



,^**Tr;-\^^' 











'^^ 

V 








^ "^io^* .^^ 



A*" *„rfS?^l^^** ^ '^j * 








4* A. 




<5°^ 









^^.^^• 







































^' 



THE FINE ART OF FISHING 



^* 












n 






^' «, 






' ■' 












"' **".', 










•,^■1 


IfP^I 


r 


V*' 


W :* • 


r 


■ 


'i 


^IfMfffl 


1^ 


k 




j^i^ 








i 




~%. 


•s^. 








<J 


4, 

B0% 


1 i 


■i 


■^^'V«lt 


1 


'' ^^mHhhhhhHO 


mm 


^ 


»«i*^ 

ii^- 








BH^teiJ/*>ss^ 


^. ' 






::'*^ 


...*, -si^.^ 


,k 


>nr5- 






' 


-ikv^i- 


^ 


^-^ 


t 




tI".. 





Playing- a ' ' Double 



THE FINE ART 
OF FISHING 



BY 

SAMUEL G. CAMP 

Author of 
"Fishing Kits and Equipment' 

ILLUSTRATED 
From Photographs by the Author 



' The ansler considers his sport as a fine art, of which merely 
to obtain fish is but a small part. . . It is the way the thing 
is done.'' 

H. P. Wells in " Fly-Pods and Fly Tackle." 




NEW YORK 

OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY 

MCMXI 



6V^^ 



t^ 



^^ 



Copyright, 1911, by 

OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY 

Entered at Stationers' Hall, London, England 

All rishts reserved 



CCI.A2S0814 



FOREWORD 

The present volume is intended to supplement with 
notes on our common game fish and the practical use 
of the fly- and bait-casting rod in casting and in fishing 
the description of fiy- and bait-casting tackle contained 
in the writer's previous book, "Fishing Kits and Equip- 
ment"; in other words, to discuss the methods of fly- 
fishing and bait-casting and other angling ways and 
means, as distinguished from the exclusive question of 
tackle. Every angler knows that good tackle is half 
the battle — and only half. 

Secondarily, it is hoped that the reproductions of the 
photographs may, at least, suggest the part which, with 
little difficulty and at no very great expense, the camera 
may be made to play in the angler's days on stream and 
lake. 

The greater part of the following text and photo- 
graphs have appeared in Outing, Recreation, and Coun- 
try Life in America. The author's thanks are hereby 
tendered the publishers of those periodicals for permis- 
sion to use the material in the present form. 

SAMUEL G. CAMP. 
Canaan^ Connecticut. 



CONTENTS 

Page 

The Brook Trout and the Fly-caster. ... i 

The Lure of the Trout Pools i 

The Brook Trout 3 

Fly-tackle 7 

Stream Fly-fishing in General 14 

Some Brook Trout Eccentricities 20 

Fly-fishing for Brown and Rainbow Trout 24 

The Brown Trout 24 

The Rainbow Trout 34 

Fly-fishing the Mountain Brook, the 

Pools, and Still- waters 38 

Small Stream Fishing 39 

Fishing the Pools and Still-waters 46 

Dry-fly Fishing 52 

Fly-casting and Fly-fishing 56 

How to Improve your Fly-casting 57 

How to Fish the Flies 65 

The Bait-caster and the Sweet-water 

Basses 73 

The Natural History of the Black Bass. ... 74 

Bait-casting Tackle 79 

Casting from the Reel 83 

Some Practical Suggestions 85 

When the Bloom is off the Water 87 

vii 



vlii CONTENTS (Continued) 

Page 

The Namaycush, the Mascalonge, and 

Others 95 

Deep-trolling for the Great Lakes Trout. . 96 

The Mascalonge, Pike, and Pickerel 106 

The Ouananiche and Land-locked Salmon.. 112 

Fine and Far-off Fishing and Other Mat- 

ters 119 

Fishing Fine and Far Off 119 

Casting for Accuracy, Delicacy, and Distance 126 

How to Improve the Fly-rod 130 

Strip-casting for Black Bass 136 

Prospecting with a Casting Rod 145 

On the Trail of the Black Bass 145 

Fishing New Waters I47 

Casts at Random with Unexpected Rises. . 155 

The Wideawake Angler 155 

Game Fish in Winter 159 

In a Fishing Camp 165 

Canoe vs. Waders 167 

Landing Net and Gaff 169 

The Trolling and Casting Spoon 172 

The Way of a Trout with a Flv 174 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

Playing a ''Double" Frontispiece 

FACING 
PAGE 

''Where the Stream Foams Down in a 

White, Out-bending Ribbon" . . . . 12 
The Brown Trout Seeks the Swiftest 

Water 28 

What Will They Take To-day? . ... 42 

"Accuracy is the Thing" 58 

The Best Way to Cast is "Cross Current" . 68 
"Pound for Pound and Inch for Inch, the 
Black Bass is the Gamest Fish that 

Swims" 74 

The Bait-caster 90 

Fishing Fine and Far Off 120 

First Aid to Injured Tackle 140 

It Is Not All of Fishing to Fish . . . .158 
Good Rainbow Water 174 



IX 



THE BROOK TROUT AND 
THE FLY-CASTER 

CHAPTER I 

THE BROOK TROUT AND THE 
FLY-CASTER 

FLY-FISHING for the speckled brook trout 
has a hold upon its votaries such as no other 
outdoor sport can boast. The interest of your 
simon-pure fly-fisherman in his pastime is more than a 
mere matter of the open season, it is lasting and ever 
present. He is a crank on the subject 
The Lure ^^^ proud of the title. If you disagree 

in ^ T> 1 with him as to the status of the sport he 
Trout Pools. .„ , .. , . . , 

wili declme to argue the question with 

you — ignorance so colossal as yours is not to be met 

with arguments. He is simply sorry for you. And 

yet, no matter what may be your opinion of fly-casting 

as a sport, you cannot but envy him. The reasons for 

this supreme contentment and enviable absorption are, 

however, although of the very best, somewhat difficult 

of explanation to the uninitiated. 



2 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

Of course, to a certain extent, one can describe the 
typical trout stream. It is not a large stream; rather, 
a big brook or little river. Its banks are pleasantly 
wooded, with here and there a small clearing where 
one time some logging job extended to the water's edge. 
Alternately there are hurrying, turbulent rapids or 
shallow, clear, swift-running rifHes and deep, opaque 
pools whose surfaces reflect the pines and hemlocks and 
in whose depths the aldermen of the river repose In 
dignified Inertia. Occasionally there are falls where the 
stream foams down many feet In a graceful, white, out- 
bending ribbon. And again there are long, still reaches 
where the current Is scarcely perceptible and where, If 
you would land a trout, you must Indeed cast *'iine and 
far off." 

But no word-picture of the characteristics of the 
trout stream portrays In the slightest degree the charac- 
teristics of that same stream from the fly-fisherman's 
point of view. While he is fully aware of the natural 
beauties of the stream, the angler Is apt to regard It more 
or less technically. And In this technicality of view- 
point, difficult In Itself to define, lies the still greater 
diflficulty of explaining the true relation of the stream 
to the stream fisherman. 

One can also describe the fly-caster's tackle; the 
graceful, resilient split-bamboo; the delicate yet, when 
well selected, steel-strong lines and leaders; and the 
various flies, each having its special connotation for the 
experienced fly-caster. But these comprise merely the 
mechanical part of the game. The operation of cast- 
ing the fly may also be explained, but this, too. Is purely 



BROOK TROUT AND FLY-CASTER 3 

mechanical. However, in the skilful handling of fine 
tackle lies a large part of the angler's enjoyment. 

I am inclined to believe that fly-fishing has its chief 
and most easily defined excuse in the existence of a cer- 
tain game fish — Salvelinus fontinalis, the 
The Brook gpgckled brook trout. Here, indeed, is 

Trout. something tangible, a thing which may 
be taken in the hand — first catch your trout — and looked 
upon. No one seeing a freshly caught brook trout 
would say that it was other than a thing of beauty. Its 
delicate, vari-colored resplendency Is not equaled by any 
living thing. The tarpon — Silver King of Southern 
waters — the Atlantic and Pacific salmons, the ouana- 
niche and land-locked salmon, and the grayling com- 
prise practically all the other game fishes, excepting 
the various other forms of brook trout, which may be 
said to possess both beauty of form and coloration. 

It cannot be denied that these fish are justifiably 
praised, but it is generally conceded that the red-spotted 
brook trout has nothing to fear from their competition. 
Of the Western trout, the rainbows, cutthroats, and 
steelheads, the rainbow, Sahno irideus, is the Eastern 
brook trout's nearest competitor — and that is praise 
enough for the rainbow. So here is one good reason, at 
least, why fly-fishing for trout is considered by many the 
very best of all sports. 

But, after all, the lure of the trout pools is a thing 
intangible, elusive, which cannot be cr^^stallized into so 
many words, or geometrically demonstrated. If you 
would solve its mysteries, would truly fathom the fas- 
cination of "the reek of the split-bamboo," you must 



4 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

hit the trail to a good trout stream, with fly-rod and 
camera, and there your desire will find its fulfilment — 
if you are the right sort; otherwise, otherwise. 

While the Eastern brook trout is undoubtedly in 
coloration the most beautiful of all game fishes, in for- 
mation, especially as regards very large 
Coloration ^ ^ ^r ^u , 

P m ^ trout or, say, three pounds or over, its 
of Trout. ... 1 t ^ ^,1 

position is not so clearly hrst. The male 

trout of this weight, however finely marked with var- 
ious tints of blue, crimson, and gold, tends dangerously 
to aldermanic girth and, with his usual under-shot and 
cruel lower jaw. Is rather a creature to respect for 
gameness and fighting-blood than to admire artistically. 

The quality of coloration in the brook trout, too, is 
dependent to a great extent upon the immediate sur- 
roundings affected by the fish. That this is a matter of 
protective coloration should go without gainsaying. In 
very dark waters, well shaded and with muddy or dark- 
ly colored bottom, the brook trout is sympathetically 
of subdued coloration, sometimes almost black — a very 
dark purple. On the other hand, in clear streams run- 
ning over white gravel or pebbly beds, the trout are 
lightly tinted and often have a golden luster or sheen 
that is unequaled for beauty. The wise men tell us 
that variation of color in brook trout is caused by the 
light acting through the nerves of the eye upon certain 
color glands. It is also dependent to a certain extent 
upon the natural food most common to the stream, 
trout which have an abundance of insect food being the 
most brilliant in coloration as well as the largest. 

To catch trout with the fly it is not at all necessary 



BROOK TROUT AND FLY-CASTER 5 

to know that, as a matter of scientific fact, the brook 

trouf is not a trout but a charr. Briefly, 

ine Brook ^g regards the Sabnonidae, the books of 

p, authority recognize the salmon trout and 

the charr trout, the distinction being 
founded upon the fact that the charrs have no teeth 
upon the front of the bone in the roof of the mouth, the 
contrary being the case with the salmon trout. Of the 
charrs those most familiar to the angler are the Great 
Lakes trout, Cristivomer namaycush, the ''Namaycush," 
and fontinaliSj Salvelinus meaning "little charr." In 
this connection it might be well to say that the trout of 
British angling literature is not our common native 
trout but the brown trout, Sal mo far to, now pretty 
generally introduced into this country and a true trout, 
not a charr. 

The brook trout, although found in many lakes, is 
essentially a creature of running waters highly aerated 

and of low temperature, sixty-five degrees 

The Brook being about the highest temperature con- 

TT sistent with their continued existence and 

w^elfare. So, in a way, the speckled trout 
is a neighbor of the ruffed grouse, the white-tailed deer, 
and the gray squirrel, living in forest and woodland 
streams, spring born and fed, where the water, running 
between wooded banks, is shaded and cool, and the 
many waterfalls and rocky riffles afford air in abun- 
dance. 

The appeal of trout fly-fishing to the sportsman is 
due in great part to the mere fact that "going to the 
woods" is inseparably connected with the best of the 



6 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

sport. The man who for a day, or many days, wades 
down a secluded trout stream, not so Intent upon his 
cast of flies as to fail in observation of his surroundings, 
or to miss the many chance meetings with the furred 
and feathered forest dwellers so frequently offered the 
angler who has the faculty of seeing, is never dissatisfied 
with his "luck" ; his days upon the stream, be the creel 
light or heavy, the Red Gods propitious or otherwise, 
are always the most pleasant of memories, to be dreamed 
again by the winter fireside and repeated at the earliest 
opportunity. 

About the spawning habits of trout, it may be that 
some time when walking through the woods in the au- 
tumn, possibly hunting ruffed grouse or 
spawning ^^^^ yQ^ ^m come upon some little 
Habits. ' \ Tr J J 

mountam stream. It you ever do and 

will take the pains to look for them, you may see some 
very fine trout In that Inconsequential rivulet. In Oc- 
tober and November, the temperature of the water 
having Its Influence over the exact time, the brook 
trout may be found at the headwaters of the streams 
and up the little "feeder" brooks where the spawning 
takes place. The female constructs the nest, brushing 
away the sand and gravel with nose and tail so as to 
form a slight depression In the stream bed, and the eggs 
are deposited therein. The male trout, at this time of 
exceptionally high and brilliant coloration, Is In constant 
attendance. The brook trout, however, unlike the black 
bass, when the spawning is completed gives the nest no 
further attention. Under natural conditions, as dis- 
tinguished from fish cultural results, only a very small 



BROOK TROUT AND FLY-CASTER 7 

percentage of the eggs are hatched, possiblj^ at best, 
five per cent. The time of incubation is from sixty to 
ninety days. 

Under favorable circumstances it takes about three 
years to make a pound trout, but the extent of the 
waters inhabited and the abundance or 
J^°^ lack of food therein — also the nature of 

' the food supply — have great influence in 
determining the rate of growth of brook trout. As 
above noted they thrive best upon insect food. The 
range of the brook trout is quite extensive ; for instance, 
they may be found in nearly all of the United States, 
although they are not indigenous to all of the States 
whose waters they now inhabit. As to the numbers in 
which they may be found in any given locality, it is 
well, when planning a fishing trip, to remember that 
often, as Henry Guy Carleton has said, the brook trout 
exists only "in the clear, cold, running prospectus of a 
hotel charging $4 a day." 

Fly-tackle 

The tackle for trout fly-fishing has been developed to 
a point of excellence where further improvement, save 
in unimportant details, seems impossible. The rods, 
reels, lines, and flies now specially made for the fly- 
caster are certainly things of beauty and, if carefully 
treated, practically permanent joys. The matter of 
tackle selection for brook trout fly-fishing is a very sim- 
ple affair — to the man who knows. But the man who 
does not know is quite capable of going to considerable 



8 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

expense for a museum of tackle curiosities the collective 
intent of which would be difficult to determine. 

Herein it will be possible to state only with the ut- 
most brevity compatible with clearness the essential tools 
and tackle of the fly-caster. For a more detailed trea- 
tise on fly-tackle and general equipment the reader is 
referred to "Fishing Kits and Equipment" by the pres- 
ent writer. Many years of stream use and experiment 
have shown that only certain tools are suited to effective 
and satisfactory — and sportsmanlike — fly-casting. In 
the following the suitability of the outfit to stream wad- 
ing and fly-fishing in an average trout stream is primar ■ 
ily considered. 

To the absolute exclusion of every other material the 

fly-rod should be of split-bamboo. The split-cane rod 

alone has the necessary speed and resili- 

e y-roa. ^^^^ which are imperative for effective 
and comfortable fly-casting and fly-fishing. Solid wood 
rods of either lancewood, greenheart, or bethabara are 
very much slower in action than the split-bamboo, and 
the steel rod is not at all to be considered. It should 
be said, however, that in the cheaper grades the split- 
bamboo rod is inferior to the solid wood rod of equal 
price. The angler should select a fly-rod of either 
medium or, if the purse is a fairly long one, the very 
best grade. A good fly-rod is worth every cent you pay 
for it — and more ; also it should be said that good tackle 
of any sort is not only its own reward but is absolutely 
essential if you would have the best of the sport. 
Shoddy tackle conduces to careless work on the stream 
and consequently to poor success. On the other hand, 



BROOK TROUT AND FLY-CASTER 9 

good tackle tends to Interest one in its proper handling, 
both in casting and also in fishing the flies, and as a 
result the angler finds his interest and success increas- 
ing rather than otherwise. 

Choice must be made between the six-strip and eight- 
strip rods, the split-bamboo rod being made from tri- 
angular strips — usually six or eight — rent from the 
natural cane and cemented and bound together. Expert 
opinion favors the six-strip fly-rod. 

If the angler is to have but one rod probably ten feet 
is the best length, but any length from nine to ten feet 
is generally satisfactory. It depends a great deal upon 
the character of the waters to be fished. For small 
brooks the shorter rod is preferable, but for big, rough 
streams where long casting must be done and large 
trout handled in swift water the ten-foot rod is best. 

Be sure to have the ferrules and reel-seat of the rod 
of German silver. This material Is stronger, cleaner, 
and more serviceable than nickeled brass. The hand- 
grasp should be of the sort known In the tackle trade as 
"solid cork," not a mere sheathing of composition- 
cork over a wooden form. For fly-casting the reel- 
seat must be below the hand-grasp. The guides of the 
rod should by all means be of the pattern known as 
English ''snake" guides, and their material should be 
steel or German silver, the former being most suitable 
because the line will not wear grooves in them as in 
the softer German silver. 

Select a rod that bends equally from handgrasp to 
tip-end, one that balances well — Is not either tip or 
butt heavy — and is not too limber or whippy. The 



lo THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

whippy rod is a poor caster and one with which it Is 
difficult to hook and play a fish properly. Fly-rods 
from nine to ten feet In length should weigh from five 
to six and a quarter ounces. 

The only reel for fly-casting is a simple single-action 
click reel. Because of its construction It is free from 
line-fouling, wherein It differs much 
The Single- from the multipliers when used In fly- 
action Reel, casting. Multiplying reels have an out- 
standing balance-handle which continu- 
ally interferes with the line when the latter Is used In 
the proper way for casting the fly. The single-action 
reel has a protecting-band around the side plate, within 
which the handle revolves, thus almost entirely obviat- 
ing line-fouling. The one-hundred yard reel is a very 
good size, and hard rubber and German silver In com- 
bination are serviceable and satisfactory reel materials. 
The larger sizes of the single-action reels must be used 
to hold the necessary amount of enameled line. 

The next requisite is twenty-five yards of water- 
proof enameled silk line. For the nine-foot rod a line 
of size F is right; for the ten-foot rod, 
The Right gj^-g |?^ Nq attempt should be made to 

•r., , . use any other sort of line. The enameled 

Fly-casting. ,. / , , . , j 

Ime alone has the weight and smoothness 

necessary for good casting ; it will not foul by wrapping 
around the rod. Good casting Is impossible when us- 
ing a light line on a heavy rod or vice versa. In fly- 
casting the reel should be used underneath the rod with 
the handle to the right. 

Quite naturally two of the most important items in a 



BROOK TROUT AND FLY-CASTER ii 

fly-fishing outfit are the fly-book and its contents. To se- 
lect intelligently the flies upon which your 
Trout Flies, success or non-success will very greatly 
depend it is necessary to take into consid- 
eration a number of facts known to be generally ap- 
plicable. As a general rule avoid brilliant flies; flies 
of subdued coloration, except in wilderness streams 
where the trout will take anything, are practically the 
only successful ones. Upon very dark days, or when 
the water is slightly flooded and discolored, they should 
be lighter in color and somewhat larger than those used 
when both weather and water are clear. 

Flies of numbers eight, ten, and twelve, are gener- 
ally the best, number eight being the most universally 
effective, although late in the season, or at any time 
when the stream is very low and clear, numbers ten and 
twelve and occasionally even smaller are to be pre- 
ferred. Personally I would be satisfied with the fol- 
lowing trout flies in good quantity and range of sizes: 
coachman, grizzly king, cowdung, Cahill, Beaverkill, 
queen of the water, brown hackle, Montreal, and 
March brown. 

A great deal depends upon the hooks on which the 
flies are dressed. The Sproat hook, all things consid- 
ered, is much the best. Above all things avoid cheap 
flies; they are flimsily tied upon hooks of poor quality 
and are far more deceiving to the tyro fly-fisher than 
to the brook trout. It is a very good plan to use the 
coachman, a consistently successful fly at all times and 
seasons, for your end fly. The white wing of this fly 
is easily seen in broken water, and sometimes when 



12 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

using small, dark colored flies in the rapids it is almost 
impossible to tell just where the cast is. A good strong 
fly-book to hold at least four dozen flies is necessary. 

In addition to the flies named above the angler plan- 
ning a trip to the famous trout waters of Maine and 
Canada, the Rangeleys, the Nepigon, and other lakes 
and large streams should add to his collection the 
Parmachene belle (first tied by Henry P. Wells, the 
writer of that best of all fly-fishing books, "Fly-rods 
and Fly-tackle," with a special view to use in Maine 
waters) and the silver doctor upon hooks of larger 
sizes than those above suggested; it should be stated, 
however, that even in wilderness streams flies dressed 
on small hooks are often the only successful ones. The 
last named flies are also good for sea trout and ouana- 
niche. 

Latterly American anglers are taking up to some ex- 
tent the English method of dry-fly casting, using a float- 
ing fly which is always cast dry and fished upon the 
surface of the water — a very eflPective method for fish- 
ing still-waters and large, quiet pools. It does not seem 
advisable to discuss dry-fly fishing at this point, since 
we are now speaking only generally of fly-fishing 
methods. Dry-fly fishing is an extremely specialized 
form of the sport and is described in a later chapter on 
"Fishing the Pools and Still-waters." 

Other fly-fishing requisites are leaders, leader box, 
creel, landing net, and waders. On the trout fly-rod 
leaders longer than six feet should not generally be used 
on account of the danger of reeling the leader knot 
through the tip-guide and thus locking the line fast. 




Where the Stream Foams Down in a White, 
Out-bending Ribbon" 



BROOK TROUT AND FLY-CASTER 13 

The six-foot leader is best for three flies; when using 
two flies, the preferable number, a five- 

^^i?5^ Trout fQQ^. leader is sufficiently long. Select the 
Fishing . , ''J- . . " -ru 

Duffle ^^^^ known as medium trout. Ihe 

choice of leaders, however, is intimately 
connected, both as to length and caliber, with the stage 
of water and weather conditions. Longer and finer 
leaders must be used over low, clear water than when 
fishing the stream under normal conditions. Leaders 
must never be used when dry and brittle and must 
first be soaked in water to render them pliable ; for this 
purpose the angler should carry two or three leaders in 
a nickel leader box between layers of wet felt. 

A nine-pound creel, with "new style" shoulder sling 
leaving the casting arm free, is most suited to average 
trout fishing in streams. In the matter of waders it 
may be said that for general purposes light-weight hip- 
boots are about as good as any. Late in the season it 
is the best plan to do without waders and wear regular 
wading shoes, with canvas leggings, or any pair of shoes 
with small slits cut in them to let out the water. Light- 
weight knee-high hunting boots are very satisfactory 
for this purpose ; they should be well oiled. Hob-nails 
not too many, too hard, or too large, are advantageous 
when wading very rocky streams. 

A small landing net which may be slung over the 
shoulder by an elastic cord, or fitted with a catch so 
that it may be hung on a button or ring on the front of 
the coat, should always be carried; the angler who 
religiously packs a landing net will far less frequently 
tell the familiar story of the "whale" that "got away." 



14 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

To be sure, a landing net is more or less of a nuisance 
in the brush, but it should be considered as a very nec- 
essary evil. Late in the season fly-medicine or "dope" 
is a necessary item; frequently, as I have said else- 
where, it spells the difference between fly-fishing and 
mere fly-fighting. A canvas, khaki, or duxbak hunting 
coat because of its many pockets is handiest for trout 
fishing wear and very durable. The waterproof qual- 
ity of the duxbak material is especially desirable. 

Stream Fly-fishing in General 

The typical trout stream of the woodlands or wil- 
derness, as intimated above, is a thing of infinite variety. 
Swift-running, shallow riffles deepen and increase in 
swiftness, forming strong, turbulent rapids. These are 
succeeded by falls, and at the foot are dark, quiet pools. 
Now one comes upon some long, still reach where there 
is little or no current; and again he finds the stream 
combining riffle and quiet water in a manner difficult 
to describe. 

The stream bed is also subject to constant variation. 
Although in most trout streams gravel bottom predom- 
inates, yet there will be many places where it will be 
merely sand, possibly large boulders lying close together, 
or perhaps the bottom will be weedy. You know there 
are trout in the stream — ^but where? Are they in the 
riffles, rapids, or pools ? What is the nature of the stream 
bottom for which they may have some passing prefer- 
ence? Obviously the solution is a matter of natural 
history — the habits of the brook trout. 



BROOK TROUT AND FLY-CASTER 15 

The brook trout is essentially a creature of varied 
moods and tenses. He is here to-day; gone to-morrow. 
To-day he favors some certain fly, to-morrow another 
and quite different insect. At one time he is lively and 
playful; at another sluggish and sulky. To an uncer- 
tain degree only can his actions be forecasted. But, 
although he is eccentric, and many of his actions are 
exceptions to all rules, several facts are generally true 
of him. Given the proper outfit and competent skill in 
its use, there remains for the fly-fisherman only the ne- 
cessity of compassing as far as may be these general 
truths about trout. 

In October or November trout ascend to the headwa- 
ters of the streams for the purpose of spawning. Then 
they drift gradually back to lower wa- 

_,. ^. y ters, and early spring finds them in the 
pools and deeper portions of the stream. 
At this time the water is usually bank-high and full of 
*'snow-broth." Even after the snow has disappeared 
from the immediate vicinity of the river snow-water is 
still running, for in the deep mountain ravines from 
which the little ''feeder" brooks flow down ice and 
snow remain until the season is well advanced. Thus 
early in the season trout are torpid and when hooked 
show little or no spirit. As soon as the river is fairly 
clear they will take bait, and this is the most successful 
way of fishing for them at this time. 

If you insist on fly-fishing you can hope for only 
moderate returns. The trout are ground-feeding and 
rise to the surface with the utmost reluctance. One 
method of fly-fishing under these conditions is to use a 



i6 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

silver doctor or some other brilliantly colored fly and 
fish it well beneath the surface. The shining, silver 
body of this fly has a minnow-like glitter when drawn 
through the water that will sometimes induce a fish to 
strike. But, all things considered, it is far better to 
depend on your bait-box, or, if you are a fly-fishing pur- 
ist, to stay at home. Most of us consider it a sacred 
duty to wet a line on the opening day or as soon there- 
after as possible. This duty fulfilled, we are content 
to await the more favorable conditions which prevail in 
May and June. 

When the stream has resumed its normal level and 
clarity and the water has been warmed by the spring 

_,. , sunshine, the fly-fishing is at its best. In- 

Mid-season ,., . , , , i , 

Fishinp" ^^^^ ^^ "^^ abundant on the banks 

and over the surface of the water. The 
fish are in the riflles and rapids, having deserted the 
deeper pools and reaches. Also, they are constantly 
foraging and their taste in the matter of insects, both 
natural and artificial, is much more catholic than later 
in the season. Other things being equal, the fly-fisher- 
man is now in his glory and should have no difficulty 
in making a good score. 

Then comes the late spring and summer fishing. 
Now, indeed, must one cast fine and far-oflF. Low and 

clear water prevails. The hot sun for 

-,. - . weeks has beaten on the stream, and the 

Fishing. , . , , , . , , . 

trout, seekmg the cool water which their 

nature demands, are again in the deeper waters, about 

the spring-holes, and generally farther up-stream than 

theretofore. You may find the lower portions of the 



BROOK TROUT AND FLY-CASTER 17 

stream practically trout deserted. A good place to cast, 
at this time, is where some little mountain brook empties 
into the river. Fishing in the early morning and late 
afternoon is the most resultful. In the cool of the even- 
ing the trout work out from their day-time lairs and 
may be found feeding in the riffles. 

With the above generalities as a basis we can now 

consider with more detail certain special aspects of the 

trout problem. In trout fishing, as in 

Where to many other things, it is a good plan to 
rp make haste slowly. One can never tell 

with certainty just where the fish may 
be lying. Until you have arrived at some reasonable 
conclusion on this point, fish all the water. Try the 
little, shallow ripples near the banks. Wet the flies In 
every part of the riffles and rapids. When you come to 
a pool fish all of it from the head, then go around and 
fish all of it from below. Do not neglect the little 
eddies around boulders and half-submerged trees. Many 
times the best fish are taken in the most unlikely places. 

Where the stream has fretted away the soil so as to 
form a hiding place beneath the overhanging bank, 
watch out for the "big one." Proceeding in this man- 
ner, you will soon discover the nature of the places 
where the majority of the fish are lying, and if your 
time Is limited you can pass by those which seem least 
productive. On some days most of the trout will be 
found In the riffles; on others the riffles are deserted by 
all save the smallest fry and you will strike most of 
your trout in the deeper rapids or the pools. 

In the experimental stage of the day's fishing It Is 



i8 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

well also to determine as quickly as possible which 
p . method of presenting the flies seems to 

Experimfnts.^^ "'^'^ P°P^^^^ ^^^.^ ^^^ .^'^- ^^ ^^^ 
customary method of casting, that is, 

keeping the flies well up on the surface, does not pro- 
duce sufficiently satisfactory results, try the submerged 
fly. A variation in the method frequently spells the 
difference between success and failure. I have often 
made good baskets of trout by fishing the flies from six 
inches to a foot underneath the surface, when, at the 
same time, it was impossible to induce a strike by ortho- 
dox surface fishing. 

Trout habits are in great measure a matter of local- 
ity. If you are to fish a stream that is new to you, by 
all means get into communication, if possible, with 
some local angler and believe all that he tells you. If 
he is the right kind of a sportsman he will save you 
many hours which might otherwise be spent in un- 
successful experimenting. 

Down-stream fishing is best adapted to the swift cur- 
rent of most American trout streams, although where 
the stream is quiet it may properly, and 

sometimes to better advantage, be fished 
xlints. K j> T • 11 

up. l^arge, quiet pools and extensive 

still-waters may properly first be whipped at the lower 

part and then from the head. It is not at all necessary 

to be early on the stream; there are more natural flies 

on the water after the sun has been up for a time and 

consequently the trout are then more likely to rise to 

the artificials. Early in the season a bright day is no 

disadvantage, rather the opposite ; but later, in the latter 



BROOK TROUT AND FLY-CASTER 19 

part of June and in summer, an overcast day Is far the 
best. 

Other things being equal, the angler who Is most 
skilled in striking his fish will have a much heavier 
creel than the one less proficient In this respect. To 
connect consistently with rising trout demands cool 
nerves and the quickest of eyes and wrist. The strike 
must come at just the proper time and with just the 
proper degree of force. The too strenuous strike will 
tear the hook away from the fish. 

It is a better fault to strike too quickly than too late. 
If you strike too quickly the trout will be missed clean 
and not pricked, and will often rise again, but If the 
strike is delayed and the fish has the chance to mouth the 
fly he will instantly eject It and will certainly not rise 
again. Strike with the wrist only at the first suspicion 
of a rising fish — you can hardly strike too quickly — and 
with a degree of force In proportion to your tackle and 
the trout; large trout should be struck good and hard. 
In the rapids trout will often hook themselves; It Is 
when fishing the still pools and reaches of quiet water 
that skilled striking Is at a premium. 

Do not hurry about landing the fish. Let him run, 
always keeping a taut line and steering him away from 
the danger spots, until he is pretty well played out ; then 
lead him to the landing net In some quiet side eddy, or 
beach him on some sloping bar. When using the net 
have It submerged and lead the fish over It. To do 
this effectively you should be down-stream from the fish 
so that the current will float the fish over the net in- 
stead of away from it. 



20 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

Always line your creel with wet moss or ferns to 
keep the trout fresh and looking as if newly caught. 

Always kill your fish immediately after taking him 
off the hook, and when you are wading the rapids it is 
a wise plan to kill him before you take him off. Me- 
dium-sized trout may be killed easily by inserting the 
forefinger or thumb in the mouth and bending the head 
sharply backward. 

That the brook trout is most eccentric in its habits Is 

generally conceded. Whether it Is more finicky than 

the black bass is a question, for this fish, 

Brook 1 rout ^jg^^ -g famous for its uncertainties. The 

man who "knows all about trout" does 

not exist, although you have probably met 

him. Long experience in trout fishing, both with fly 

and bait, is conducive to a deeply rooted belief that the 

brook trout will most certainly not "stay put." When 

you think you have pinned him down as to some phase 

of character or habit, your next fishing trip is quite apt 

to result In a complete reversal of opinion as to that 

same characteristic. 

Experts agree to disagree, and arguments concerning 
fontinalis are unending and profitable only in that 
they serve to sustain angling interest. Not only is there 
confusion as to these matters of character and habit, 
but the scientists meet with more difficulty In dealing 
with the Salmonidae than with any other group of 
game fishes. With elusive ease and supreme indiffer- 
ence the trout refuse to be classified and Ichthyologically 
tagged. As to this, however, the fisherman need not 



BROOK TROUT AND FLY-CASTER 21 

concern himself over-much, since he has his own 
troubles. 

In stream fishing, for instance, it frequently happens 
that after a run of good luck the fish suddenly cease 
rising and are apparently down to stay. The angler 
who faces this situation is usually hopelessly at sea. The 
question of what to do obstinately remains unanswered. 
It may be that some temporary hatch of flies upon 
which the trout have been feeding has ceased. It may 
be that that particular stretch of water is temporarily 
deserted by the trout for some unknown reason. Per- 
haps this portion of the river is permanently avoided 
by the fish. Explanations and theories buzz merrily in 
the angler's brain, and finally he "goes it blind." 

At every few casts he changes flies. He tries both 
surface and submerged fishing. Without avail he em- 
ploys every fly-fishing artifice known to him. At last, 
when he is discouraged and about to take the rod down, 
he gets a rise and a trout. Then another candidate ap- 
pears and is elected to the creel. Exactly what has hap- 
pened the angler does not know, and, since the fish are 
again on the rise, he cares little until home again and 
in conversation with some fellow fisherman the occur- 
rence is brought up for argument and thoroughly sifted. 
Generally some sufficiently plausible explanation is con- 
cocted and confidently relied upon until a similar state 
of affairs arises on a subsequent trip and the pet theory 
suffers a compound fracture. 

One of the most exasperating of trout habits is that 
of rising short. When the fish are in this mood the 
angler's character suffers in inverse ratio to his capac- 



22 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

ity for patient endurance under much adversity. 
Whether It Is a matter for congratulation that when 
the trout are rising short they are generally rising pretty 
freely Is a question. Certainly the more short rises you 
have, with consequent failures to hook the fish, the 
more you are Inclined to wax exceeding wroth and feel 
like smashing things. But this free rising of the fish, 
even under these conditions, generally results In a cap- 
ture now and then, and for this reason It should prob- 
ably be considered a good rather than an evil. 

When the fish are acting In this manner the angler 
is at first Inclined to believe that he Is striking too 
quickly and jerking the flies away. But If he steadies 
down and strikes more deliberately, he soon discovers 
that the fault Is with the fish. To increase his discom- 
fiture It generally happens that the trout strikes just 
closely enough to result in being pricked and lost. 

So far as the writer knows there is no remedy. It is 
simply to be endured. The exact mental bias of a brook 
trout when he Is determined to rise short has been var- 
iously conjectured, but Is still to be definitely decided. 
It has been claimed that he is merely playful; that he 
desires to maim the insect for future reference, or, per- 
haps for the fun of the cruelty ; also, that he rises purely 
out of curiosity and without Intention or desire to take 
the lure. Any of these theories is probable, plausible, 
and possible, and the angler may take his choice with 
the certainty that whichever of them he may elect tc 
rely upon may be easily proved conclusively — and with 
equal ease absolutely discredited. 

Probably the most heartrending situation with which 



BROOK TROUT AND FLY-CASTER 23 

the trout fly-fisherman Is now and again confronted is 
when the trout are jumping continually, feeding upon 
some certain fly, or, it may be, in play. At such times 
the angler's desire to obtain a few * 'specimens" of the 
brook trout Is greatly Increased by the sight of the leap- 
ing fish, while at the same time, If he is an experienced 
angler, he Is fully aware of the fact that no possible 
conditions could be more unpropitious for success. Very 
rarely it will happen that If the trout are rising to some 
natural fly the angler can make a killing by hitting upon 
the most approximate artificial. It seldom occurs. The 
right fly, somehow, is hardly ever In the fly-book. Here 
again the angler realizes his utter helplessness, and very 
acutely. 

The whys and wherefores of the brook trout are In- 
numerable and as unsolvable as numerous. To the 
sportsman they are a never-ending source of interest and 
of difficulty. The wise angler will thank Heaven each 
time he creels a trout — It may be the very last one. 



CHAPTER II 

FLY-FISHING FOR BROWN AND 
RAINBOW TROUT 

WHEN the Eastern angler speaks of fly-fish- 
ing for trout the speckled brook trout, 
Salve linus fontinalis, is always implied ; but 
while it is true that, fortunately, the red-spotted trout 
is still the most common resident of our streams, yet in 
many streams fontinalis now shares the water with one 
or both of two other good game fishes, the brown trout 
and the rainbow trout, Salnio fario and Sahno irideus 
respectively. Of the two the brown trout is the m.ore 
common and it is well for the fly-caster to know some- 
thing about its nature and habits and the most suitable 
tackle and methods for fly-fishing for brown trout; 
also he should kno^ the facts of a similar nature re- 
garding the rainbow. 

The Brown Trout 

Notwithstanding the fact that the brown trout had 
been a resident of many of our streams for a good many 
years, to be exact since 1882, it seems that among an- 
glers in general exact information concerning this trout 

24 



BROWN AND RAINBOW TROUT 25 

is rather difficult to find. To one who has had the 
opportunity and privilege of taking this fish in goodly 
numbers the dissertations, opinions, disputes, and theo- 
ries of fishermen who have not enjoyed a close acquaint- 
ance with Sal mo farioj but are ever ready to discuss 
the subject, are somewhat amusing. 

To cite a concrete example: Recently a reasonably 
proficient angler, journeying from one of our larger 
cities to a trout stream which the writer has fished 
times almost innumerable, brought home with him a 
number of strange, outlandish fish all very sizable. The 
angler stated to an admiring audience of friends that the 
fish had fought like tigers, that he had had the time of 
his life, etc., etc. — but what were they? Briefly, the 
fish were imagined to be of every sort except the right 
one, and some of the guesses were particularly wild 
and humorous. The fish were simply brown trout. 

It is the purpose of this chapter to state some of the 

facts known to many anglers about the brown trout 

Fontinalis ^"^' '^^ would seem, quite unknown to 

vs. many others, possibly to the majority. 

Fario. First, however, the writer would recall 

the somewhat trite fact that comparisons are always 

and inevitably odious. Wherefore, one might suggest 

that our native trout be left out of the discussion. For 

some reason unknown to the present writer, anglers 

are prone at the very mention of the brown trout to 

consider the entire question one of comparison between 

the brown and the native, naturally to the detriment of 

the former; fontinalis vs. fario has been argued times 

without number. 



26 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

The discussion is futile. Rightly, there can be no 
question as regards the respective sporting qualities of 
the two. Our native trout, the speckled brook trout, is 
clearly in a class by itself. No other trout, or any 
other game fish, has ever been or ever will be so well 
beloved by sportsmen. So let us consider the brown 
trout strictly on its own merits and not as an actual or 
even possible rival of our red-spotted charr. 

The German or brown trout was first planted in 

American waters, as above noted, in 1882, the eggs 

coming from Germany and England. 

Urigin in Yot some time thereafter the fish were 
.A.mcric3. 

propagated and planted by the United 

States Bureau of Fisheries, but at the present time fry 
or fingerlings can only be obtained from private hatch- 
eries. The Federal Bureau ceased distributing the 
brown trout for reasons which will appear later. Be- 
fore the cessation of propagation, however, the range 
of the brown trout had attained large proportions, and 
they are now to be found in very many of our trout 
streams both East and West. 

The brown trout is a true trout, a salmon trout, and 

not a charr, in which it differs from our native trout. 

If you are a good angler and kill your 

The Brown fjgj^ immediately after landing them — 

irou a which, as suggested in the preceding 

True Trout. . ' 1 , j • .1 t 

chapter, can best be done m the case or 

trout of moderate size by inserting the forefinger in the 
mouth of the fish and bending the head sharply back- 
ward — you will have reason to note very "sharply" an 
anatomical difference between the mouth of a salmon 



BROWN AND RAINBOW TROUT 27 

trout and that of a charr. The brown trout has teeth 
in no uncertain quantity or degree' of penetration on 
the front of the bone in the roof of the mouth. These 
are lacking in the charr. It should be said also that 
the presence of this efficient dental weapon at once 
marks the brown trout as a fish killer. 

A good many years a,go I caught my firjc brown 
trout, a rather small specimen, and although at the 
. time I did not know the exact nature of 

the fish, it was evident at once that it 
was no very close relative of our common trout — simply 
because the fish had very appreciable scales. The scales 
of our native trout, although they exist, are micro- 
scopic. Those of the brown trout are easily seen. The 
coloration of the brown trout is quite different from 
that of any other trout either native, rainbow, or any 
of the Western species. The color scheme is best 
described by William C. Harris, as follows: 

"The brown trout is, in American waters, rather 
slimmer in build than our American red-spotted trout, 
with a larger and more pointed head. The back is 
dark green covered with well-defined black spots, and 
the dorsal fin has both black and bright red or ver- 
milion spots ; the adipose, or fatty fin, is also beautifully 
decorated with three red spots. Below the lateral line 
the coloration is of a yellowish cast with a greenish sil- 
very background. The tail, or caudal fin, is square, and 
on its edges there is a reddish stripe; the other fins are 
orange in color, the ventral and anal having a white 
stripe on the under edge shaded with deep orange; the 
head, the under part of which is yellow, and the glll 



^ 



28 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 



covers are covered with dark spots; the belly is pure 
white, above which is a deep yellow hue." 

The back of the brown trout is not marbled, or ver- 
miculated, as in the case of fontinalis. The coloration 
is quite as susceptible to change due to environment as 
that of the native trout. The most beautiful specimens 
are those living in fast water, unshaded, and running 
over gravel bottom. Such fish are extremely brilliant 
in coloration, with vivid red spots and a very beautiful 
golden luster. Others, living in slow, deep, shaded 
water with dark bottom, are dull in coloration. The 
spawning period and habits are practically those of the 
native trout. 

The brown trout is the trout of our English brother 

anglers and is the fish either particularly referred to 

or implied as a matter of course in the 

The Brown English literature of fly-fishing. Over 

Trout and ^^^^^ ^j^^ pursuit of the trout— the Brit- 

the Dry-fly. . , , , . , 

isher takes his sport rather more serious- 
ly than does the Yankee — has been reduced to an exact 
science, at least to such a degree of exactness as the 
nature of the sport permits. The outcome of this de- 
termined onslaught upon the ranks of the brown trout 
is seen in the resultant English method of dry-fly fish- 
ing, latterly coming into some prominence in this coun- 
try. A single dry or floating fly is used, and cast only 
— in case the angler is a dry-fly purist, that is, in the 
last stages of the disease — to a rising trout. The arti- 
ficials mostly in use are exact imitations of the preva- 
lent insect life of the stream. 

The reports of American anglers who have experi- 




The Bait-caster 



1 



BROWN AND RAINBOW TROUT 29 

merited with the dry-fly on home waters are not, on the 
whole, over-enthusiastic, although in individual cases 
some very remarkable successes have been recorded. 
The paucity of results may be due, although I have 
never seen it suggested, to the characteristic difference 
between the native and the brown trout. The dry-fly 
method has been evolved almost purely as a means of 
taking the latter, and it seems not unreasonable that 
an effective method for taking the one should fail some- 
what in the case of the other. Dry-fly fishing should 
be entirely successful on any suitable American stream 
abounding in brown trout, for, although there are 
slight variations of habit between the brown trout of 
British and those of American streams, they are not of 
such a degree or nature as to render it probable that a 
method so successful on the other side should be much 
less effective here. But the water must be suitable; 
that is, not too swift and broken. 

Purely as a sporting proposition the brown trout is 

a decided success. In other words, he puts up a good 

fight. There are marked differences, 

-^ ° .. . ^ however, between the way a brown 
* trout conducts himself when taking a fly 
and thereafter and the behavior of the native. Especi- 
ally noteworthy is the fact that very often the brown 
trout will leap on a slack line. Artists who illustrate 
the sportsmen's periodicals are fond of picturing the 
brook trout leaping high in the air with all the ease 
and athletic ability of the small-mouthed black bass, 
the Atlantic salmon, or the tarpon, but the observant 
and experienced reader, although he may condone the 



30 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

matter as merely poetic or artistic license, knows full 
well that the thing Is a pure nature fake. 

The brook trout, unless fairly yanked from the wa- 
ter by too strenuous rod work, so seldom that one can 
almost say positively never leaps from the water. In 
rare Instances he may leap upon a slack line, but the 
general rule is quite the other way. The brook trout 
does not belong to that class of game fishes which may 
be called the leapers, but the brown trout may rightly 
be thus classified. The leap of the brown In the effort 
to rid himself of the hook Is very much like that of the 
black bass, a spectacular and vicious shaking of the 
entire body in the air. I once struck a good rise of 
brown trout, taking six In almost that number of casts, 
running from a half to one pound, and every one of 
them jumped one or more times. 

There is .an Impression that the brown trout rises 
reluctantly to the artificial fly. Nothing could be more 
erroneous. They are very free risers when conditions 
are at all favorable — quite as much so as the native 
trout. The fight of the brown trout is not as fast, as 
electric, as that of the native trout, but when In good 
condition the brownie Is a very bulldog for tenacity, 
making a prolonged and decided objection to coming to 
the net. In fact, sometimes it Is pretty hard to tell 
just when he Is "all in" — it is a very hard fish to tire 
entirely out. Frequently when you have a brown trout 
of good fighting size almost at the edge of your land- 
ing net he will apparently acquire an entirely new lease 
of life and fight his way back to mid-stream. 

As a general thing you will have little trouble in 



BROWN AND RAINBOW TROUT 31 

hooking a large brown trout when he rises to the fly. 
. Striking is often quite unnecessary, for 

^* they take the fly in a very vicious and 
emphatic manner. A good many times the brown trout 
will leap from the water and take the fly on his down- 
ward flight. Usually the native does not show him- 
self to any extent unless he misses the fly, when he will 
sometimes shoot straight up in the air. Of course, not 
every brown trout, or every speckled trout will con- 
duct himself in this manner and in strict accordance 
with the general rules; the above states merely the gen- 
eral course of action of the two under normal condi- 
tions. 

The brown trout should never be planted in a stream 

inhabited by native trout unless the conditions are such 

that the natives are few and small and 

Planting stocking with them does not materially 

rp . improve the situation. The brown is a 
Trout. ^ , . 1 . 

very fast grower and attams a large size, 

the increase being estimated at about one pound a year. 
Owing to the piscivorous nature of the brown trout 
and their larger size, natives and browns do not do well 
together, the former eventually yielding the stream to 
the foreigners. Disregard or ignorance of this fact 
when the brown trout was first introduced into this 
country is responsible in great part for the prejudice 
against them. But in streams no longer favorable to 
fontinalis, and there are many such due to logging oper- 
ations, pollution, etc., the brown trout, by nature a hard- 
ier fish than our native charr, will still thrive, and such 
streams may be made to furnish good sport and a valu- 



32 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

able food supply by stocking with brown trout. From 
imber operations results a rise in temperature in streams 
flowing through the afFected tract. The brown trout 
thrives in water of a temperature that would be almost 
prohibitive to the existence of the native. 

Very light tackle should not be used when fishing a 

stream wholly or partially inhabited by brown trout. 

The writer has seen many brownies 

iacKle tor weighing from two to three pounds, two 

rp , fish weighing over four pounds each, and 

there are well authenticated captures of 

brown trout up to the vicinity of seven pounds. As 

noted below, the brown trout, when conditions are 

favorable, is a fast-water fish and even with reasonably 

strong though sportsmanlike tackle, the chances are 

very much in favor of the fish. The outfit should be 

strong throughout. A ten-foot six-ounce fly-rod is well 

suited to the game, and the leader particularly should 

be strong and of the finest quality. 

For wet-fly fishing any of the accepted trout flies, 
the choice being governed by the usual rules in regard 
to fly selection for the speckled trout, are effective, with 
a possible preference for the hackles; the gray hackle 
with red body is a particularly good brown trout fly. 
Large sized flies, on number six and four hooks, are 
occasionally very effective in deep, fast water. Refer- 
ence has been made above to the utilization of dry- 
flies for fishing the pools and still-waters. As in the 
case of the brook trout the largest fish will most often 
be found in the pools. Many of the American stock 
trout flies may now be had dressed in dry-fly fashion, 



BROWN AND RAINBOW TROUT 33 

flies such as the Beaverkill, March brown, etc. A land- 
ing net is always a necessary and important factor on 
a brown trout water. 

There seems to be a popular impression that the 
brown trout is essentially and by preference an inhabi- 
tant of slow, sluggish water. While it 
The Brownie jg ^^ut that the larger specimens are 
a Fast-water ^^^^^ ^^^ ^^ ^^ ^^^^^ -^ ^^^ p^^j^ ^^^ 

risn. , . r 1 

deeper portions or the stream, commg to 

the shallows to feed at night — even as the native trout 

— it is still a fact that average fish, from a half-pound 

up to two pounds and a half, are most often found in 

the most broken, swift, and rocky water which the 

stream affords. 

A peculiar fact, and one well worth noting, is that 

in such a reach of white water, the brown trout is very 

apt to lie on the upstream side of a bould- 

A Practical gj. j-^ther than in the lee below it, as 

IS ing ^rould be generallv true of the native 
Hint. rr-, ,. ' <■ , . f 

trout. 1 he discovery or this tact, very 

seldom true of the native trout, has been worth many 
good brown trout to the writer. The flies should be 
worked cross-current from three to six inches above and 
along the line where the water lips the boulder. 

The known presence of large trout in the stream 
lends an interest to a day's fly-fishing quite unknown 
when the angler is whipping a stream 
^^ . from which nothing over a half-pound 

P^^^^'l^Tt^ is liable to be taken. A stream inhabited 
by brown trout has always this interest- 
ing possibility, while, unfortunately, the same cannot be 



34 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

said of the great majority of streams in which are native 
trout alone. Personally the writer confesses to a genuine 
admiration for the brown trout — with the conviction 
that he is not alone in this opinion, and also with the 
knowledge that many anglers have no use whatever for 
the brown trout — and, while still maintaining that our 
native brook trout is an unrivaled game fish, he is will- 
ing to give the devil his due ; in other words, to declare 
that the brown trout is a game fish worth any angler's 
consideration and skill. 

The Rainbow Trout 

The rainbow trout, Sal mo irideus, is far less com- 
mon to Eastern trout streams than the brown trout ; in 
the West the rainbow is indigenous to many streams. 
This is a true trout, a salmon trout and not a charr 
and, in fact, has more points in common with the brown 
trout than with the Eastern brook. It is a black-spotted 
trout ; as in the case of the brown it will live in water 
of a higher temperature than will the native; it is 
famous for leaping when hooked, and is a faster grower 
than the native trout. 

For some unknown reason stocking trout streams 

with rainbow fry or fingerlings is successful only in 

isolated cases. The common impression 

Stocking seems to be that the rainbows, if circum- 

-, . , Stances permit, desert the shallow water 

Rainbows. r ^ i 

of the average trout stream and run 

down into deeper rivers and lakes. Whatever may be 

the reason, it is a fact that although many streams have 

been stocked with rainbows onlv a few of them are ever 



BROWN AND RAINBOW TROUT 35 

taken on the rod and after a season or two they disap- 
pear entirely. But in some cases stocking with them 
has been entirely successful and the streams wherein 
they may be found afford some of the finest of fly- 
fishing. 

As a game fish there is no harder fighter than the 
rainbow. Almost invariably its first act when hooked 

is to leap high from the water ; then fol- 
%r r'^^^ lows a prolonged, fast-fought resistance 

sufficient to tax the skill of the most ex- 
pert angler. The rainbow is a faster fighter than the 
brown trout, its quickness of movement resembling more 
the action of the native trout. The writer, however, 
has cause to remember his first rainbow for the reason 
that the fish did not leap — for good and sufficient rea- 
sons. Fishing at the confluence of two trout streams in 
very fast water where the currents of the two streams 
struggled for mastery, I hooked and after a running 
fight landed about a hundred yards downstream from 
that point a double consisting of a three-quarter pound 
rainbow and a native trout of one pound and a half. 
The native was taken on the end fly, a coachman, and 
the rainbow on the dropper, a Beaverkill. In this case 
the larger trout undoubtedly forced the fighting and 
held down the rainbow so that it was impossible for him 
to go into the air. Since then I have had numerous 
opportunities to admire the leaping and other sporting 
qualities of the rainbow. 

As to the distinctive coloration of the rainbow, Will- 
iam C. Harris whose writings, both as a practical an- 
gler and ichthyologist, on the natural history of game 



36 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

fish are authoritative and whom I have quoted above In 

connection w^Ith the brow^n trout, says: 

Coloration *'There are one species and five subspec- 

^^. \ ^ ies of the rainbows, the typical form being 
Rainbow. , , • , ^ r» 

known as the rambow or Coast Range 

trout (Salmo irideus, specific name from the Latin, 'a 
rainbow'). It is a large, robust, short, and deep fish, 
growing to a weight of thirteen pounds In the William- 
son River, and up to thirty pounds when sea-run. The 
head is short, somewhat convex, and 'obtusely ridged 
above'; mouth slightly smaller than In other trout, and 
the ej^es are somewhat larger; the teeth on the roof of 
the mouth are in two irregular series; the tail fin is 
slightly forked, the body, sides, and ventral fins irregu- 
larly but profusely marked with black spots, those on 
the tail being smaller than those on the body and on 
other fins. 

"The coloration Is bluish above and whitish on the 
sides, which also. In both sexes, have a broad lateral 
band with reddish blotches, the sea-run specimens being 
plain silvery. If an angler chances to catch a rainbow 
In Eastern waters, It will probably be where the East- 
ern brook trout Is also found, and the 'red-sides' can eas- 
ily be distinguished from It by the lateral band, more or 
less reddish, always on the sides of both sexes, and by 
the presence of numerous black irregular spots located 
on the body, head, and fins; those on the caudal fin 
being somewhat smaller than the spots elsewhere. The 
brook trout (fontinalis) has red spots; the rainbows do 
not have them." 



BROWN AND RAINBOW TROUT 37 

The above description says that the rainbow is a 
"deep" fish, and that the ''mouth is somewhat smaller 
than in other trout." Deep, here, Is another way of 
saying narrow — the rainbow is very thin through the 
body, taking a half-pound specimen as an example — and 
it should be said also that the mouth is noticeably 
smaller than that of either the brown or native. While 
there is no room for argument as to the fighting quali- 
ties of the rainbow, in the writer's opinion and that of 
many other anglers the rainbow as an edible fish is not 
equal to either the native brook or brown trout. An- 
other noticeable thing about the rainbow is the quick- 
ness with which the coloration fades after the fish is 
taken from the water; In a very short time the lateral 
band, the "rainbow," will almost entirely disappear, 
leaving only a faint suggestion of Its natural beauty. 

The rainbow is a very free riser to the artificial fly, 

apparently less discriminating in this respect than either 

^ , , native or brown trout. Any of the well- 

Xackle 

known fly patterns will be successful. In 

general the tackle advised for brown trout Is equally 

suitable for fly-fishing for rainbows. The rainbow 

always seeks the swift water, grows to a larger size 

than the native trout, the rate of growth being about 

the same as that of the brown trout, and reasonably 

strong and efficient tackle Is always best for heavy fish 

In heavy water. 



CHAPTER III 

FLY-FISHING THE MOUNTAIN BROOK, 
THE POOLS, AND STILL-WATERS 

QUITE recently at the Upper Dam, Rangeley 
Lakes, Maine, "the place, of all others in the 
world, where the lunacy of angling may be 
seen in its incurable stage," a genuine brook trout, 
fontinalis, weighing twelve and a half pounds was cap- 
tured. This trout, authenticated beyond doubt, was 
not taken by an angler but by some hatchery men for 
spawning purposes. At the same place, in the fall of 
1908, a brook trout scaling nine pounds seven ounces 
was taken on the fly by Mr. Raymond S. Parrish, of 
Montville, Connecticut. 

Some little time ago, at the biennial session of the 
General Assembly of a certain State, a bill came up 
for consideration making seven inches the length of 
trout to be legally retained. Whereupon the Honor- 
able Member from — but that might identify the State 
— at any rate,, the Honorable Member arose and, with 
tears in his eyes, protested that in his county, although 
there were several trout streams, many trout, and a 
well-established Industry devoted to their capture, there 

38 



BROOKS, POOLS, STILL-WATERS 39 

was not at that time in that county, or ever had been 
at any time in that county, a trout measuring seven 
inches. Wherefore the injustice of such a measure 
was palpable, etc., etc. The bill did not pass. 

Trout fishing may mean one thing and it may mean 
another. It is a fact that in many parts of Vermont, 
Massachusetts, Connecticut, and other States, trout 
fishing such as that described by the Honorable Mem- 
ber is the rule and not the exception. 

Small Stream Fly-fishing 

Where average fishing may be had it is a very poor 

plan, one finely calculated to spoil sport, to fish the 

small mountain streams. These little 

Do not Fish brooks act as ''feeders" for the larger 

the Feeder ^^^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^^^ In ^he fall the 

Brook. f 1 1 J 

trout of the larger streams ascend 

these little brooks to spawn and the little trout 
remain in them from the fry to the fingerling 
stage when they seek the deeper and more ex- 
tensive streams. "Skinning" the small brooks merely 
means that the stock in the larger ones will surely de- 
teriorate in numbers and in size, and eventually poor 
fishing or none at all will be the rule. 

But if the small feeder brooks are religiously pro- 
tected, the stocking of the larger streams is more or 
less automatic, no matter how hard these may be fished ; 
this is especially true where the feeder brooks are 
stocked by the State or by individuals. It is manifestly 
futile to stock the small brooks and at the same time 
allow them to be fished. And stocking is most success- 



40 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

ful where the fry or fingerlings are planted In the 

tributary brooks where they are free from the large 

trout and the generally strenuous life of the river. 

But where little brooks and small mountain trout 

are the rule and heavier fishing need not be taken Into 

consideration, fly-fishing for the little 

*^ ' charrs of the mountain streams Is a leglt- 
mate Sport. . , , i r , , 

imate sport — and not a hair bad one. 

With trout fishing as, In fact, with any sport of the 
rod and gun, particularly In these days when light 
creels and hunting-coat pockets are the rule — the law 
In most localities jealously looking out for this — and 
the camera plays so Important a part In field sports, 
the country to be fished or hunted, whether attractive 
or commonplace, Is a primary consideration. It would 
be difficult to find a more pleasant field of action than 
that afforded by the typical mountain trout stream. 

When you go fishing for mountain trout you seek the 
country of the ruffed grouse, the woodcock, the gray 
squirrel, and the white-tailed deer; 
Where the ^^{thal, a somewhat strenuous country. 
rp J . Following the brook you pass through 

deep ravines strewn with green and 
moss-grown rocks, steep, slippery, moist, and prolific 
of mosquitoes, tumbles, tackle smash-ups — and trout. 
You work through little alder swamps, almost Impene- 
trable tangles where there Is nothing to see but the 
work ahead and nothing to do but do It — and catch 
trout. But, however difficult may be the local habita- 
tion of the mountain trout, It Is sure to have the virtues 
of picturesqueness and freedom from monotony and to 



BROOKS, POOLS, STILL-WATERS 41 

offer many opportunities for the camera as well as the 
rod. 

Working quietly along the little stream you will 
sometimes flush a "partridge" and will often hear them 
drumming. Later in the spring a woodcock will per- 
haps get up within rod's length of you and whistle 
away over the tops of the alders. Where deer are at 
all common you will see their tracks along the brook 
and, if you are at all lucky — and quiet — you may even 
see the trail-makers. Incidents of this sort, with fair 
success with the little fly-rod, will surely serve to make 
your day on the stream a pleasant one. In such streams 
a trout weighing half a pound is a monster, and the 
average is considerably less than that. But sport with 
any game fish is largely a matter of the tackle used, 
and presumably you will use light tackle. 

The little trout of the mountain streams, unless in 

very secluded brooks which have been fished little or 

not at ail, are not in the least foolish or 

_ uneducated. Anglers are wont to as- 

Trout. . ^ , . . . . , , 

sociate extreme sophistication with the 

two-pounders of the big rivers. When considering the 
typical mountain trout it is well to remember that with 
them size is small indication of age or degree of educa- 
tion. The size of brook trout is a matter of range ex- 
tent and food supply, and the trout of the little brooks 
of the hill country are small because the food supply is 
limited, the "swim" is limited, and the little fellows 
have to work hard for a living. So the eight-incher of 
the narrow, shallow, and rapid mountain stream may 
be as highly educated as the two-pound brown trout 



42 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

which, In a more extensive stream, rises only to the fly 
cast "dry and cocked." At any rate, if you find a well- 
worn angler's path along the little stream you will have 
to use some finesse and no little patience and ingenuity 
to make a very heavy showing. 

Fly-fishing for mountain trout has Its technique 
equally with the sport on larger streams and weightier 
fish. The primary essential for success 
Mountain ^^^ ^ ^^^ -^ jj i ^ tackle— the very light- 
Stream Fly- 1,, . . r\ 
rp , , est. i:^ly-castmg m any true sense oi the 

words is out of the question because of 
the confined and brushy nature of the stream. So the 
tackle need not be selected with a view to casting any 
considerable distance ; this permits the use, since weight 
is unnecessary, of a small caliber line. An enameled 
line, size G, Is exactly the thing. This may properly 
be used on a little four-ounce fly-rod eight feet In 
length or thereabouts. A very small single-action reel, 
the smaller the better, should be used, since It will not 
foul In the brush as often as a larger one. 

A very good plan Is to wind on an additional guide 
between each pair of guides on the rod when much 
brush fishing Is to be done. This will keep the line 
close to the rod at every point and there w^Ill not be 
loops of slack to become fouled continually In the brush. 
The thing to aim for In the entire outfit Is the elimina- 
tion of loose ends. The leader should be short and fine, 
so that the flies may be reeled In close to the rod tip 
when landing a trout through the brush. 

Under normal conditions flies and bait are about 
equally successful for small brook fishing. While it is 



1 



BROOKS, POOLS, STILL-WATERS 43 

a fact that real flj'-fishing or rather fly-casting. Is pre- 
cluded by the nature of the stream, still the mountain 
brook is no place for the duffer with a fly-rod. Indeed, 
a small stream of this sort requires a deftness, skill, 
and versatility of expedients in handling rod, line, and 
flies that is unknown on the larger streams in the open 
where free casting is the rule. The problem is to get 
the flies out from twenty to thirty feet without casting 
in the usual manner, and it is not always an easy one. 

Small flies of modest colors are best, such as the 
coachman, cowdung, Cahill, Beaverkill, and other gray 
and brown winged flies, and also the various hackles. 
The smallest sizes should be used, tens and twelves, 
and even at times the midge flies. More than two 
flies should never be used, and one is better. As a 
matter of fact it is seldom that more than one fly can 
be laid on the water and fished properly, owing to the 
difficulty of casting and the smallness of the stream, 
and tw^o flies, also, are just twice as apt to get fouled 
as one. If tw^o are used they should be attached to the 
leader quite close together so that both may be fished 
at the same time in the smallest pools. 

The angler will save himself much trouble and an- 
noyance by forgetting to bring a landing net. The use 
of a net on small trout is at best of questionable pro- 
priety or necessity — something like using a ten-gauge 
on rail — and on the brushy mountain stream It Is the 
most versatile trouble maker you can have along. A 
very playful little trick of the net fitted with an elastic 
cord Is to catch on a branch, stay behind you to the elas- 
tic limit of the cord when you move along, then break 



44 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

loose and snap forward into the small of your back 
with considerable velocity and no little penetration. 
The smashing effect, however, is usually upon the net 
ultimately. Instead of the net carry a little pocket-axe ; 
it is far more useful. 

Possibly the greatest factor for success in this sort 
of fishing is the faculty of going slowly, never hurry- 
ing by places which look a little difficult 

M fli^H^ ^^ ^^^ ^"^ consequently have probably 
been neglected by other anglers, and 
carefully fishing out all fishable water. Here and 
there, in little clearings and where the stream widens 
out, you can make short casts in the usual manner; in 
other places the flies may be got out by simply swing- 
ing them over the water as you would cast a "a garden 
hackle." Often the only way of getting out the flies 
is to make a "snap cast," using a line about the length 
of your rod, grasping the end fly between the thumb 
and forefinger of the left hand, pulling straight back so 
as to get a good bend in the rod, and then releasing the 
line — always avoiding the possibility of hooking your- 
self in the fingers. In this manner very accurate casts 
may be made after a little practice. 

When a trout is hooked, if the banks are so brushy 
that you cannot beach him or swing — not throw — him 
out, the fish should be slowly reeled in up to the leader- 
knot, taking pains not to reel this knot through the tip 
guide and thus fouling the line, and then brought 
in through the brush by pulling the rod toward you 
down low. Many trout will be lost by attempting to 
land them in this way and it should only be used as a 



BROOKS, POOLS, STILL-WATERS 45 

last resort in the worst and most brushy places. Move 
slowly and quietly, keep as far back from the brook 
as possible without using too long a line and thus 
inviting disaster, and use deliberation in the choice of 
methods for the various little pools, falls, and riffles. 
The first cast is the one that counts. 

When brush fishing a good point to remember is 
not to strike upward but backward or toward you. 
If you strike upward a miss always means a hang-up, 
but if you strike by quickly moving the rod toward 
you and keeping it low down, this will happen far less 
frequently. An effective method is to strike not with 
the rod but by quickly pulling in the line through the 
guides with the left hand. The two-handed fly-caster 
who habitually uses the slack-line cast becomes very 
expert at striking small trout in brushy streams in this 
manner. 

As a general thing you will not often find trout 

much over a quarter of a pound in the average small 

mountain stream; but conditions vary 

Exceptional ^^j occasionally you will take or see 

Streams. , . , . , 

taken trout weighmg a pound or 

more. Many small brooks, although not very wide, 

may be comparatively deep. Those flowing through 

meadow lands and with sandy or muddy bottoms are 

apt to be of this sort; possibly the brook may not be 

over six feet wide, but there will be many places where 

the depth is from three to five feet with fine trout 

shelters hollowed out beneath the banks. 

There is a brook of this sort, well-known to the 

writer, which flows partly in Connecticut and partly 



46 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

in Massachusetts. Its average width is not over iive 
feet and the stream bed is black mud. Mostly it flows 
through an alder swamp, with here and there a very 
little open fishing in old slashings. Anglers who have 
*'sand" enough to fish this brook through the swamp — 
football is child's play in comparison — show baskets of 
trout that would drive the average angler crazy. 
Many times the creels show from a dozen to twenty 
trout, not a single one less than a pound, and running 
from that up to two pounds and a half. This is not 
a fish story alleged but one experienced. 

In view of this it is a good plan to find out from 
local anglers whether the stream you are to fish has a 
reputation for an occasional large trout and outfit ac- 
cordingly. It is rather disconcerting, to say the least, 
when you are sure that a quarter of a pound is the 
limit for the stream, to have a pound fish roll up to 
your flies — and a rattled fisherman means a lost fish. 

Fishing the Pools and Still-waters 

Although fly-casting consists for the most part of 

fast-water fishing, yet in nearly every stream there are 

many deep, still pools and often long 

The Brook j-eaches of still-water wherein are resident 

Trout of the ^, i ^ . ^ r .u • a • 

o^-ii J. the very largest trout or the river. Aris- 

Still- waters. . , . . , . , , . 

tocratic seclusion is theirs, and their 

rule is absolute. Quietly the activities of the pool go 
on about them. At times a muskrat or mink stems 
silently the still surface of the waters. Nervous king- 
fishers perch momentarily on overhanging branches 
and then, rattling, seek other vantage points. Insect 



BROOKS, POOLS, STILL-WATERS 47 

life is abundant about the pool, from brilliant butter- 
flies to invisible midges. At times a kindergarten of 
foolish minnows ventures into the sacred precincts; 
scattered, with some lost and many wounded, they dart 
away before the onslaught of the weighty residents. 
Thus living at ease, with much good eating which 
comes to them quite independently of effort on their 
part, serene in the knowledge of their superior strength 
and size, the brook trout of the still-waters wax ever 
mightier and, from the angler's viewpoint, more de- 
sirable. 

Dark-skinned fish, these, from long residence in 
deep water well shaded, and in shape chunky and full- 
bellied. Dignified and deliberate of mien are they and 
of temperament highly suspicious, for the reward of 
the easy life of the pool is won by those individuals 
only who are best fitted to survive. Once they too 
free-lanced in the rifliles and rapids with others of 
their kind, seeking daily sustenance at the risk of divers 
sudden deaths. In time, however, they assumed for- 
midable proportions and became themselves the lords 
of the stream. To this distinction they arrived only 
by exceptionally good fortune and unusual self-pro- 
tective abilities. It would seem, then, that the angler 
who would successfully match his skill against the 
sagacity of these veterans must depend largely upon 
strategy and the ability to suit tackle to occasion. 

In the riffles and rapids no extraordinary skill is 
needed to lend life-like motion to the flies. Once the 
cast is made and the flies have alighted upon the water 
in the desired spot, they are caught by the eddies and 



48 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

drifted here and there in almost exact imitation of half- 
drowned, struggling insects. In the still- 
Casting waters it is different. Here life must be 
Over Pools, imparted to the flies by skilful handling 
of rod and line; and, too, more care 
must be taken in the actual casting, that is, the flies 
must be dropped upon the water with all possible gen- 
tleness. A cast which in all probability would be a 
successful one in broken water might cause the flies 
to impact on the glassy surface of the pool with a 
splash quite sufficient to prevent any hope of a rise in 
the immediate vicinity. 

The primary necessity for a successful cast over quiet 
water is that it be made gently. Then comes the ne- 
cessity of so handling the tackle that the line shall not 
become slack; that the flies shall stay well up on the 
surface and appear alive ; and that immediate advantage 
may be taken of a strike. Here again working the line 
with the left hand, stripping it through the guides, 
solves the problem. In this way the flies are under full 
control. Also your rod need not be raised much from 
a line parallel with the water, and when, as sometimes 
happens, a fish rises when the flies are close to you, the 
rod is in a position to handle the strike — which is not 
the case when it is pointing to the exact center of the 
high heavens. 

As a rule the brook trout of the still-waters strikes 

slowly, in a manner quite different from the voracious 

dash of his brothers of the rapids. Leis- 

°* urely he rises to the surface and sucks 

in the fly, natural or artificial, and with equal delibera- 



BROOKS, POOLS, STILL-WATERS 49 

tion returns to his lair. It is necessary to strike at the 
psychological moment. The tendency is to strike too 
quickly, a better fault than to strike too late. If the 
rise is missed, it is well not to re-cast immediately, but 
to rest the pool for a few moments, a matter, by the 
way, requiring no little self-restraint in case the rising 
fish is a large one. 

Should the pool be a small one it is probable that 
one trout only is resident. But if the pool is spacious, 
with many submerged logs and rocks, 
r' aying ana ^[^\^ shady caves beneath overhanging 
°* banks, or other ambushes beloved by 
trout, it is quite probable that several fish are located 
there. If jou would land more than one of them j^ou 
must be careful to land that one quietly and with the 
least possible disturbance. Restrict his play to the limit 
of tackle safety and beach or net him without noise. 
If you are successful in this the pool may yield a brace 
or two of good fish. At times casting from the head of 
the pool raises no fish, but if you go around and cast 
from below you will often cause one to change his 
mind. Every pool is best fished from both above and 
below. 

In the matter of flies the residents of the pool are 
discriminating in the highest degree. Day and night 
myriads of insects swarm over the still 
w^aters. Grasshoppers and crickets sui- 
cide continually from the bank ; grubs drop down from 
the trees; the riffles and rapids deposit a varied menu 
in the temporary resting place of the pool. As a con- 
sequence of this glut of good things the fish are apt to 



50 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

be reluctant in rising and must be skilfully teased. The 
taking qualities of the sunken and dry-fly should not 
be forgotten as successful variations of the orthodox 
method of casting. The dry-fly, although not suitable 
for fast water, can often be used to advantage when 
fishing the pool. Also patience and still more patience 
is necessary when trying conclusions with the wise 
ones of the quiet water. 

Taught in the school of experience the danger of 
strange insects, in the daytime the residents of the pool 

are wary when the silk and feathered 
Pslignt imitations flutter over the water. But 
^* at dusk and in the moonlight this 
natural shyness seems to depart in some degree and such 
times are propitious ones for the fly-caster. In a way 
this seems to be taking an unfair advantage over the 
fish and, too, the trout do not fight as strongly under 
these conditions. However, if it is a case of night fish- 
ing or bacon for breakfast, the sporting ethics of the 
matter may properly be disregarded. Although sub- 
versive of the general axiom of light flies for dark days 
and dark ones for light days, it is a fact that in night 
fishing a soberly colored fly is sometimes more taking 
than one lighter in coloration. If the white miller fails 
to attract, try the black gnat. 

The angler who customarily fishes a stream wherein 
there are many wide pools likely to harbor large trout 

should select his outfit with the greatest 
Utner -^j^ view to fishing for the larger 

Tackle. . 

trout and allowing the small fry to stay 

in the water. In other words, the angler should make 



BROOKS, POOLS, STILL- WATERS 51 

the big trout the chief object of the day's fishing and 
not have his tackle suited only to small fish. One 
reason why the "big one" so often gets away is because 
trout fishing to many anglers means merely the taking 
of numerous young fish little better than fingerlings 
and when a trout of good fighting size takes hold of 
the tackle he easily tears it apart. Of course, if the 
chance of striking a really good fish is very remote, as 
when fishing the smallest streams, it is best to use the 
very lightest tackle, for therein lies the sport of taking 
the smaller trout. 

Strong tackle, suited to fairly large trout, is far from 
implying coarse tackle. Coarse tackle in trout fishing 
is of almost no use save on very exceptional occasions. 
The brook trout is by nature one of the wariest of 
game fish and in most localities has in addition a very 
thorough education in angling affairs. Strong tackle 
is not necessarily coarse, but to obtain it of a quality 
good enough to embody both strength and fineness as 
regards caliber and material it is necessary to use judg- 
ment in its selection and to pay the price. It may be 
noted here, although not enlarged upon, that coarse 
tackle is not always strong tackle. The distinction 
between tackle too coarse and that which is suitable, 
although easily recognized in concrete cases by both 
fish and fishermen, is difficult to set down in so many 
words. Frequently it may be a matter of inch-thou- 
sandths and the micrometer caliper. 



52 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 
Dry-fly Fishing 

It is In connection with pool and stlU-water fishing 
that the use of the dry-fly can most appropriately be 
considered. It Is not at all probable that dry-fly fishing 
will ever reach In this country the popularity It has 
attained In England; the average of stream conditions 
is against It. Fishing vi^Ith the dry-fly is by no means 
a new thing and a few American anglers have practiced 
it for a good many years. Recently, however, much 
greater interest has been taken In the subject than 
formerly and for that reason it seems best to include 
here a brief description of the dry-fly caster's methods. 

The following notes on dry-fly fishing — which the 
present writer could not hope to equal in comprehen- 
siveness, clearness, and brevity — were written by Mr. 
Alfred Herbert, of Kenilworth, England, and pub- 
lished In Forest and Stream for June 15, 1907. In the 
opinion of the writer it Is the very best short descrip- 
tion of dry-fly methods ever printed, and for that 
reason I take the liberty of quoting, in part, as follows : 

''In this style of fishing we Invariably fish up stream, 
and In our clear waters here we are able to see the trout 
distinctly. The angler looks out for a fish which is 
actually rising and feeding on the natural floating 
Insect. This, of course, only happens when there Is a 
rise of flies on the water. On some days there will be 
very little, if any, rise of insects, and consequently very 
few fish to be caught; at other times, in favorable 
weather, rises may be more or less continuous during 
the day, but the best part of the rise usually concentrates 



BROOKS, POOLS, STILL-WATERS 53 

itself into short periods, the best time being generally 
between eleven and three o'clock in the spring, while 
later in the year there is often a good evening rise after 
sundown, if the weather is warm and the atmosphere 
free from mist. 

''When a feeding fish is seen, the angler's object is 
to get as near to him from below as possible without 
scaring the fish. This necessitates a good deal of 
progression after the manner of the serpent, it being 
essential above all things to keep low. The fly chosen 
should be as near as possible a reproduction of the 
natural insect on the water. The line, which is of 
plaited silk, dressed in linseed oil under the air pump, 
is carefully greased, preferably with red deer fat, but 
vaseline or hard mutton suet answers equally well. 
The object of greasing the line is to insure that it shall 
float lightly on the surface of the water. If not greased 
— no matter how well it may be dressed — it soon tends 
to be waterlogged, and in this condition sinks below the 
surface of the water when drawn in, dragging the fly 
with it under the water and thus soaking the latter. 

"The line we use here is generally fairly heavy and 
preferably tapers to a fine point. Only one fly is used 
in this style of fishing. The fly itself is lightly touched 
with a spot of odorless paraffin from the small bottle 
which is carried on one's waistcoat button. After 
anointing the fly with paraffin, I find it well to absorb 
the excess paraffin on a dry handkerchief; then by 
making a few false casts in the air the fly is further 
dried, and nothing but a minute suspicion of paraffin 
remains on the fly; otherwise any excess of the paraffin 



54 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

forms a film on the water, which Is distinctly and detri- 
mentally visible to the fish. 

** Having now got within easy range of the rising 
fish, the angler's object is to drop the fly about two or 
three feet above him, so that it shall come down in a 
natural position, with Its wings erect (or 'cocked,' as we 
call it). It should fall on the water quite lightly, and 
the least splash of the line is fatal, the fish in these 
waters apparently having eyes all over as well as In 
their heads. It is important that the fly should travel 
at precisely the same pace as other natural flies which 
are floating freely on the water, otherwise a ripple or 
drag Is set up, and our fish will not look at a fly which 
has the slightest suspicion of drag. 

"Drag is very diflicult to overcome under some con- 
ditions; it is caused by the stream running faster in 
some parts than in others ; for Instance, If one is casting 
across a river, and the water In the center is running 
faster than at the side on which the fly falls, 
the pull of the current on the line tends to draw the fly 
faster than the water around it, and this sets up 'posi- 
tive drag.' If, on the other hand, owing to the con- 
formation of the stream, the water is running more 
rapidly at the side where the fly falls than it is In the 
center where the line falls, then the line will hold 
back the fly and set up drag of another kind — 'negative 
drag.' 

"If all these various difficulties are overcome, and if 
the fly happens to appeal to the fish as a suitable morsel, 
it Is taken, often with a great show of confidence. The 
subsequent proceedings are exciting, but are, of course, 



BROOKS, POOLS, STILL-WATERS 55 

quite familiar. . . . The conditions that are 
most favorable to dry-fly fishing are, first of all, that the 
surface of the water should be smooth enough to enable 
the fly to float and to enable the angler to see It; sec- 
ondly, that the fish be actually feeding, obviously on 
some floating Insect. Under these conditions I believe 
the dry-fly will kill fish on any river; but of course In 
rapid streams, where the surface Is broken up by rocks 
and the current Is strong, the conditions are undoubt- 
edly entirely against the dry-fly fisherman. 

"The great attraction of dry-fly fishing Is the actual 
seeing of the individual fish, the stalking for him, and 
his ultimate capture; In fact, you see the whole per- 
formance and fish consciously for one Individual trout, 
whereas In the wet-fly system (which, of course. Is also 
largely used In England), one casts simply Into a likely 
piece of water and hopes for the best. . . . " 

In addition to the above It remains only to be said 
that to use the dry-fly method It Is not absolutely imper- 
ative to cast to a visibly rising fish, for If he chooses the 
angler may fish all the water as In wet-fly fishing. It 
should also be noted that while the majority of dry-flies 
used In England are close Imitations of the Insect life 
of the streams other flies which are sometimes used 
successfully are not exact imitations but rather of the 
sort known as "fancy." 



CHAPTER IV 
FLY-CASTING AND FLY-FISHING 

IT Is quite possible for an angler to take a good 
many brook trout without being an expert fly-cas- 
ter. Mere mechanical proficiency in casting is by 
no means the most important factor in resultful fly- 
fishing. A good many other things, such as knowledge 
of trout haunts and habits and what Is fishable water, 
have weight in deciding the success or non-success of 
the angler's day on the stream. 

But notwithstanding the fact that fly-casting is not 
all of fly-fishing, it is very well for the angler to be 
able to cast better than the other fellow; given two 
anglers of equal stream experience and like knowledge 
of brook trout characteristics, the better caster will 
assuredly make the better showing. The very poor 
caster, too, no matter how wise he may be In general 
angling affairs, will certainly offset his superior theoreti- 
cal knowledge by his awkwardness In practical fishing. 
Also, apart from the application of fly-casting to fly- 
fishing, it Is a fact that mere fly-casting Is good sport — 
witness the popularity of tournament casting. The man 
who has acquired some cxpertness In casting the fly 
gets a great deal of pleasure from this alone. 

S6 



FLY-CASTING AND FLY-FISHING 57 

Most of the written treatises in books and magazines 
on how to cast with the fly-rod, while as a whole cor- 
rect, fail somewhat in their purpose because the authors, 
in treating the entire subject of rod handling, do not 
place sufficient emphasis on certain particular phases 
of the matter. Good fly-casting is dependent upon 
close attention to a number of individual details, some 
more important than others, but each of such import- 
ance that if any one of them is neglected the results 
are not of the best. With long practice observance of 
these details becomes automatic, but the beginner must 
keep them firmly fixed in his mind. The following is 
not an attempt to teach fly-casting, but merely to em- 
phasize certain details which, at first glance, may have 
seemed inconsiderable and consequently may not have 
been strictly observed. 

How to Improve Your Fly-casting 

In the first place let us consider the apparently unim- 
portant question of how to hold the rod, i.e., the posi- 
tion of the rod hand on the handgrasp. Nine out of 
ten beginners at fly-casting would say immediately that, 
provided the caster does not drop the rod, the method 
of holding is immaterial. Now the veteran fly-caster 
and the books on fly-fishing will tell you that the proper 
way to hold the rod is to have the thumb of the rod 
hand extended along the upper surface of the handgrasp 
and not bent around it. There must be some reason 
for this opinion and advice of the experts, and there is 
a very good one. In fact, there are two reasons. 



58 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

Good fly-casting, whether considered from the stand- 
point of accuracy, delicacy, or distance, depends on 
getting your wrist into the cast. If you make it a prac- 
tice to grasp the rod as above indicated, with the thumb 
lying straight along the top of the handgrasp, you will 
soon find that you are getting your wrist into the cast 
to a much greater extent than ever before. And when 
you once find out what a great difference this makes, 
you will know why, perhaps, your casting theretofore 
has not been eminently satisfactory or proficient. 

If you cast practically at arm's length, as you will 
often see done, delivering the line with a sweeping 

motion of the entire arm from the shoul- ' 
^*C ^^t^*"^^"^ der, of what use to you is a finely con- 
^* structed fly-rod, made especially with a 
view to the utmost speed and resilience? Straight-arm 
casting fails entirely in putting the rod itself to work; 
the arm motion does it all — and very poorly. But once 
get the wrist into the cast and you will find the rod, 
if it is a good one, bending from handgrasp to tip-end 
and, as a result, the line jumping away as if sent for. 

Again, this method of holding the rod results in a 
greater ability to cast accurately. The rod is under 
perfect control and the direction of the 
An Aid to ^^g^^ under favorable conditions, will 
deviate very slightly from the point aimed 
for. Target shooting with a rifle and casting with a fly- 
rod are similar in that both, quite naturally, require aim. 
With the thumb pointing along the handgrasp proper 
initial aim is instinctive and the rod is guided in the 
right direction throughout the cast. 



FLY-CASTING AND FLY-FISHING 59 

Another very important point is not to carry the rod 

too far back on the back cast. This fault simply means 

that too long a time will elapse between 

The Back ^^^ forward and back casts and that the 

line will become dead in the rear of the 

caster. On the back cast the rod should go but slightly 

beyond the perpendicular; this will keep the line high 

in the air — the object to be attained — where it will 

respond at once to a correctly timed forward cast. The 

line must be kept alive throughout the period covered 

by the forward and back casts, and nothing is more apt 

to kill a cast than letting the rod go too far back. You 

will occasionally see fly-casters carry the rod so far to 

the rear that the line actually falls on the water behind 

them. 

Try to get a high back cast. When the tip of the 
rod, in the arc described by the rod in the back cast, 
reaches a point just over your head, stop the rod; the 
momentum and bend of the rod will then carry it to 
just about the right position for starting the forward 
cast. 

And now about starting the forward and back casts : 

the chief mistake made by beginners in starting the 

back cast is in starting it too easily. 
Timing the y^^^^ ^^^^^ Uf^ ^^^ U^^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^ 

with a strong, snappy, backward wrist 
motion, so that it will have sufficient speed to straighten 
out behind you before beginning to fall toward the 
water. This, too, will help in attaining the high back 
cast mentioned above. Do not delay starting the back 



6o THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

cast too long; begin it when the flies are well away 
from you. 

In the paragraph above I have suggested waiting 
for the line to straighten out behind the caster on the 
back cast, that is, before beginning the forward cast. 
Instantaneous photographs of expert casters, however, 
show that in actual practice the line does not entirely 
straighten out in the rear before the forward cast is 
started ; that, in fact, there is a considerable loop at the 
end of the line which straightens out just after the 
caster begins the forward cast. The theory of this is 
quite plain. If, when casting a rather long line, you 
wait until the line becomes quite straight behind you, 
you wait just long enough for the line to lose its life. 
The forward cast, then, should be started when the line, 
having passed to the rear of the caster, first begins to 
pull appreciably on the rod. 

On the other hand, do not start the forward cast too 
quickly, because this is liable to snap off the end fly. 
Correct timing of the forward cast is one of the greatest 
factors in clean-cut casting. Do not start the forward 
cast too strenuously. The speed of the rod when pass- 
ing through the arc of the forward cast should be 
greater toward the finish. At the end of the forward 
cast the rod should be a little above parallel with the 
watero 

In the matter of rod handling, then, the chief points 
for the fly-caster to observe, as regards primarily the 
overhead cast, are these: To hold the rod with the 
thumb extended along the upper surface of the hand- 
grasp; not to carry the rod too far back on the back 



FLY-CASTING AND FLY-FISHING 6i 

cast; not to delay the back cast too long, and to start 
it forcefully; to start the forward cast when the line 
first begins to pull on the rod, and to start it rather 
easily and finish strongly ; and, finally, not to allow the 
rod to go too far down toward the water at the end of 
the forward cast. 

We come now to a very important factor in good 

fly-casting, one which, it seems to the writer, is never 

sufficiently emphasized — indeed, is usu- 

Two-handed ^^^ entirely disregarded— in the written 

Casting. . ' . T r 

° treatises on ny-castmg. 1 refer to the 

matter and manner of using the left hand, taking it for 

granted that the caster is right-handed, to manipulate 

the line ; the reader will please consider everything said 

in reference thereto as written in capitals. 

Briefly, the caster should grasp the line with his left 
hand, between the reel and the first guide, and all 
paying out and retrieving of the line, either when 
casting, fishing the flies, or playing a trout, should be 
with the left hand. The advantages of this method of 
line handling are manifold, and ability to perform it 
skilfully is of the utmost importance. A loop of line 
of reasonable length, not so long as to invite fouling, 
should alwaj^s be maintained between the reel and the 
first guide so that at the end of the forward cast (when 
the hold of the left hand on the line is slightly relaxed) 
this loop will shoot out through the rod guides, thereby 
adding a number of feet to the cast. Casting at any 
thing over moderate distances can only be done by this 
method. 

Learning to use the left hand in the above manner 



62 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

when casting Is one of the most difficult things In fly- 
casting, particularly If you have become accustomed to 
one-handed casting, but It Is certainly worth the 
trouble of acquiring It; in fact, its advantages and 
applications in various directions both In casting 
and fishing the flies are so numerous that they can 
merely be suggested at this point. Particular reference 
Is made elsewhere to certain situations wherein the two- 
handed fly-caster has every advantage over the caster 
whose education has not progressed thus far. In the 
writer's opinion and, It may safely be said, in the opin- 
ion of every man who has done much fly-fishing, the 
one thing above all others Is to learn how to handle the 
line with j^our left hand. 

Following the above suggestions should certainly 
result in adding a number of feet to your average cast- 
ing without any determined effort to gain 

IS ance vs. (jjs^-^j^ce^ jj^ f^^^i- ^j^g gaining of distance 

by mere muscle should be studiously 
avoided if for no other reason than that very long cast- 
ing Is usually very poor fishing, except, of course, where 
reaching out Is absolutely necessary on account of 
natural conditions. The chronic distance caster gener- 
ally overcasts his water, neglecting good water near- 
by for the sake of seeing his flies come down far-off. 
There is a certain satisfaction in this without doubt, but 
it Is not good fly-fishing. Strenuous effort is not at all 
necessary for reasonable distance fishing casts; tourna- 
ment casting is another thing. If you can succeed in 
getting the true science of casting down to a fine point, 
the harmonious action of wrist, rod, and line, everything 



FLY-CASTING AND FLY-FISHING 63 

done just right and at just the right time, it will sur- 
prise you how easily the flies may be sent for compara- 
tively long distances. Accuracy is the thing to strive 
for. 

The overhead cast is the foundation of all fly-casting : 
other casts, such as the wind cast and the side cast, 

being merely variations to meet weather 
Other Ca^ts 
v ^^*''** conditions or the natural formation of 

the stream. As a matter of fact, the wind and side 
casts, employed against the wind or when the danger 
of hanging-up precludes the overhead cast, are used 
quite as much as the overhead, especially the side cast 
which is a very efficient and practical fishing method. 
This latter cast, too, it is claimed, is the one best 
adapted to laying down a dry-fly cocked and dry upon 
the water, and is recommended to the dry-fly caster 
above all others. The fly-caster who is reasonably pro- 
ficient with the overhead cast can pick up the wind and 
side casts very easily. 

The wind cast is decidedly not a pretty one, but in a 

strong wind, blowing directly toward the caster, it is 

the only method which will get out the 

-r-rr. , ^ Ai^s any reasonable distance. Much 

Wind Cast. A .u a:- - . 

accuracy under the conditions is not 

practicable, and any degree of delicacy in dropping the 

flies impossible and unnecessary, for the ruflled surface 

of the water hides any fault in this direction. 

The back cast is made in the usual manner — the wind 

cast is an overhead cast — but the forward cast is a 

strong downward chopping motion, moving the rod 

hand outward and downward, with a quick, strong snap 



64 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

of the wrist, and the rod should come down closer to 
the water than in the usual overhead cast. The wind 
cast will put out the line a fair fishing distance under 
very adverse conditions, but it is tiring and particularly- 
hard on a light fly-rod. However, it is well worth 
knowing. It sometimes happens that trout will be 
found rising very freely on a windy, blustering day, 
even when they have shown no interest in the artificials 
under presumably more favorable conditions. Using 
this cast you will have fair success when the other 
fellow is climbing trees after his flies or sitting behind 
a fence waiting for the wind to go down — and the 
wind never goes down. 

In the side cast the rod travels back In the back cast 
parallel with the water and not far above the waist-line ; 
the rod hand must be kept down low 
y^ with the back of the hand toward the 

water. The line should be thrown back- 
ward traveling three or four feet above the surface of 
the stream, and the forward cast must be started 
quickly and timed correctly, since the line has only a 
little distance to fall before striking the water. The 
latter contingency should be avoided for several reasons, 
and of these not the least important Is that you are 
liable to rise a trout when the flies strike behind you — 
a very disconcerting situation and one liable to result 
in a smash-up. I have seen this happen several times. 

The side cast should always be used where over- 
hanging branches invite a hang-up even when by taking 
chances and using the overhead cast you might gain 
greater distance. Under such conditions It Is better to 



FLY-CASTING AND FLY-FISHING 65 

move up slowly and quietly, or, if necessary, get out of 
the stream and still-hunt your trout from the bank. A 
hang-up with the consequent maneuvers to get free 
always spoils sport in the immediate vicinity. 

How to Fish the Flies 

The one thing which definitely distinguishes the fl)^- 
fishing beginner from the fly-fishing veteran is the man- 
ner in which the cast of flies is handled. If, with some 
fl3-fishing experience to make your judgment com- 
petent, you follow the veteran fly-caster as he wades 
down the stream, you will see that always the flies 
alight where they will do the most good, that the man- 
ner of handling the cast varies with the w^ater and 
other conditions, that the cast passes over every bit 
of likely water, and that always the flies are fished with 
malice aforethought and with little or nothing of the 
chuck-and-chance-it about the process. 

But if you choose to share as a spectator — quite the 
best waj^ — the varied fortunes and misfortunes of the 
fly-casting novice on the stream, you will see another 
sort of fishing. Ever5^thing is haphazard and without 
definite plan; good water and poor are fished out with 
equal futility; in fact, the novice, provided he can get 
the flies out on the water, somehow, anyhow, or any- 
where, and again retrieve them, is satisfied that he is 
fly-fishing and damns the stream as trout deserted when, 
in consequence of his methods, or rather, lack of meth- 
od, the results are nil. To put it in another way: The 
manner in which the flies are fished distinguishes the 



66 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

fly-fisherman from the mere fly-caster, whether or no 
the fly-caster, as such, be expert or otherwise. 

As in selecting a fly-rod one is rather more apt to 
consider primarily its casting qualities than its suitability 
to playing and landing trout, so is one prone when 
speaking of fly-fishing to consider rather the act of 
casting the flies than the ways of fishing them. As a 
matter of practical angling, however, one of the chief 
functions of the fly-rod is the playing and landing of 
trout ; and casting the fly, apart from tournament work, 
is a mere mechanical preliminary to fishing the flies. 
Fly-fishing begins when the flies are on the water. 
Ability to cast well cannot be over-rated, but fishing the 
flies is even more important. 

To fish the flies properly one must know what is 

fishable water — "where the trout hide" — after which 

correct manipulation of the flies is the 

Fishable important factor. The stream localities 

Water. 

especially favored by the trout vary con- 
siderably as regards their natural characteristics with 
different streams and, also, with the different species of 
trout — brook, brown, or rainbow. Also the time of 
year, as noted in the preceding chapter, whether early 
or late in the season, determines to quite an extent 
where the most trout will be found. Knowledge of 
brook trout habits and an acquaintance with the stream 
gained by whipping it a good many times will show the 
angler which is the fishable water in any given stream. 

The manner in which to handle the cast of flies is, 
however, more or less a matter of conjecture, immediate 
results from various ways of fishing the cast determining 



FLY-CASTING AND FLY-FISHING 67 

very often for the time being the manner most effective. 

It is a fact that the angler who becomes w^edded to one 

waj^ and sticks to that way through thick 

Versatility ^j-^j thin, no matter what the time of 

T-'i n ^' year, condition of water, or character 
Fly-fishing, -^ ', . .,. 

of the stream, will catch trout, but 

the angler who chooses to be versatile in his methods 
will catch more. 

Books on fly-fishing usually dismiss the subject of 
how to fish the flies with the brief and apparently satis- 
factory advice: Imitate as closely as pos- 
Imitation of ^-^^^^ ^^^ ^^^-^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^^^^^.^^ .^^^^^^^ 

Nature. ^, . . . , , , . 

(Ji course, imitation or the natural in- 
sect is the thing to strive for, but — just how do you go 
about it? The result of this advice is that the novice, 
with the very best intentions, generally skips, twitches, 
and flutters the flies about on the water, sometimes 
making them skip gaily up-stream against a sixty-mile 
current, all in the fond belief that he is imitating nature 
to the limit. In the opinion of the writer, founded 
upon a fair success in trout fly-fishing due probably 
more than anything else to avoiding this sort of nature 
fake, no worse way of handling the cast can possibly be 
employed. 

Do not skip the flies about over the water. Exact 
imitation of nature in trout fly-fishing is most closely 
approached by dry-fly methods; and twitching and flut- 
tering the flies forms no part of the science of drj^-fly 
fishing. By all means, eschew dragging the flies up- 
stream against sixty-mile currents because, as a matter 
of fact, the natural insect would, of course, be going 
the other way at "current rates." 



68 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

In the opinion of experienced fly-casters the most 
successful method of casting and fishing the flies is at 

right angles to the stream, cross-current, 
ine Uross- allowing the flies to sweep along down- 
Current Cast. • 1 .1 . .u A ' 

stream with the current over the desir- 
able places, always taking pains to have a fairly taut 
line. Usually the slightly submerged fly is the most 
effective. This method it would seem is, in a way, a 
compromise between the up-stream and down-stream 
methods. 

The caster who uses this method should employ the 
slack-line cast, described above in this chapter, draw- 
ing in the line gradually through the rod guides with 
the left hand as the flies work around and down-stream 
in order to maintain a taut line. The course traveled 
by the flies is practically a quarter-circle from a point in 
front of the caster to one directly below him and down- 
stream. They are then lifted and another cast made 
from a stand lower down. Care should be taken that 
the leader and flies float fairly straight, that is, the 
leader should not be bent so that the end fly tails along 
too far behind the dropper. A taut line, watching the 
effect of the current and holding the rod pretty well 
up, will obviate this. 

The extent to which the flies should be submerged 
varies with the weather and water conditions, and also 

with the temporary likes and dislikes of 

'^^^f^Fl" ^^^ ^^^^^* ^" ^ slightly flooded and 

^ ^* discolored stream, or early in the season, 

or on a very windy day, or in very rough, broken 

water, the chances are that the considerably submerged 




The Best Way to Cast is "Cross Current 



FLY-CASTING AND FLY-FISHING 69 

fly will be the most effective. Fishing in this manner, 
when the flies get well away from you, you will possibly 
not see the rising trout but must strike by the "feel"; 
it is very difficult and a matter of much practice to 
hook a fish under these circumstances. Often you will 
not know that the trout has struck and when you lift 
the flies for the back cast you will merely prick him 
and roll him over in the water. It goes without saying 
that the feelings of both parties to this transaction are 
considerably hurt. 

But with practice and the emploj^ment of constant 
vigilance it becomes possible for the angler to hook his 

fish ''sight unseen" with fair regularity. 
Striking Un- j^ f^^^^ ^^^ fly-caster develops a sort of 
seen Irout. , . , ... n , . , 

second-sight which tells him when to 

strike even when occasionally he has not felt the fish or 
even seen the flash of the trout in the water. As a 
general thing fewer strikes will be missed if they come 
when the cast is carrying around and down-stream and 
before the line straightens out below the angler. It is 
always well to re-cast immediately as soon as the line 
straightens out directly down-stream, and not to allow 
the flies to play around In the swift current at the end 
of a taut line. A trout striking under these conditions 
is seldom hooked securely, and the force of the water 
helps him to tear away before you can get things Into 
proper shape to play with him. Fishing a deeply sub- 
merged fly is not very desirable from a sporting point 
of view and the method should only be employed as a 
last resort, when It Is often very effective. 

Under normal conditions, with clear and fairly 



70 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

smooth water and on calm days, the flies should be only 
slightly submerged — in fact, should be 
^_,.^^ ^^^ fished quite on the surface, sinking only 
to the extent caused by their weight. 
This may be attained by always keeping the point of 
the rod well up and taking care to strip in the line with 
the proper rapidity. If the line becomes too slack or 
the rod point drops too low the flies will become 
drowned at once. They should as far as possible be 
allowed to follow the natural trend of the current, just 
as a derelict insect would float, following through the 
eddies and whirls without noticeable restraint from the 
line. You may be sure that trout know where to lie 
in the stream in order to intercept insects floating down 
with the current ; and that if your flies follow the natu- 
ral course of the current in a natural manner, they will 
pass over the majority of the best "lies" in a way calcu- 
lated to produce results. 

A very foxy cast is to drop your flies on a patch of 

floating foam. Do not immediately drag the flies 

through the foam but allow them to lie 

^ ^^ upon and float with it, exactly as the 
Last. , . , . , . 

natural msect caught m this manner 

would do, finally sinking through. Foam patches col- 
lect numbers of insects and the trout know this. 

The method of casting above described, at right 

angles to the current, is the one to tie to ; it is the best 

way to fish the flies under almost all con- 

„. ?? ditions. But, of course, there are times 

and places when and where this method 

is impracticable. Often it is impossible to reach a 



FLY-CASTING AND FLY-FISHING 71 

proper stand from which to cast cross-current ; and, too, 
the method naturally requires a current to carry the 
flies. This last precludes the use of the cross-current 
cast over pools and still-waters. 

In places of this sort it is necessary to impart natural 
action to the flies by manipulation of the rod and line, 
but anything in the nature of fussiness or too obvious 
motion should be avoided. The cast should be made 
lightly and the flies allowed to remain for a moment 
where they alight and then withdrawn a little and 
quietly. Over pools and still-waters it is best not to 
allow them to remain in one spot too long ; that is, they 
should not be dragged any considerable distance from 
the point where they first fell. It is better to cast fre- 
quently, relying upon repeated casts to cover the pool 
thoroughly. 

A very important thing is to be careful always about 
the first cast you make over any likely spot. The ten- 
dency, even with experienced fly-casters 
The l^irst ^^^ know better, is to make this first 
cast rather carelessly and as a sort of 
experiment. Consequently a good fish is often raised 
and lost on account of the angler's not being ready for 
him. As a general thing — every fly-fishing rule has its 
numerous exceptions — a trout that is in a rising mood 
will come for the first or second cast, and it is rather 
more apt to come for the first than the second. In view 
of this always make the first cast over any new place 
fully prepared for trouble. If the trout rises when you 
are only at half-attention and is missed, or is pricked 
and lost, the chances are numerous that you have seen 



72 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

the last of him — a pricked trout never comes to the fly 
again. 

Another thing — before you cast over any difficult 

place where the current is very swift, or the banks 

rocky and steep, or the water too deep 

Casting over ^^ wade, always look over the situation 

p, and make up j^our mind just where is 

the best place to land a fish under the 
circumstances and how one may best be handled; then 
pick your place to cast from accordingly. Then when 
you strike a good-sized trout you will not be rattled 
about what to do next but will be ready to go right 
after him. If you are unprepared and merely hang 
on to the fish while you are trying to decide what to 
do with him the chances are that he will tear away or 
foul you before you can make up your mind. Often 
you will see anglers casting from places where it would 
be simply impossible for them to save a trout if one 
were hooked. 



CHAPTER V 

THE BAIT-CASTER AND THE SWEET- 
WATER BASSES 

SOME years ago Dr. James A. Henshall, whose 
name is so intimately and favorably connected 
with the sporting and natural history of the 
sweet-water basses, stated that the black bass — "inch 
for inch and pound for pound the gamest fish that 
swims" — would eventually become the 
ait-casting leading game fish of America. It may be 
in General. <• t • , , , . , 

saiely said that at the present time the 

truth of this statement is quite evident. Fly-fishing for 
trout and casting for bass, barring stream fishing with 
flies where the two methods are closely approximate, 
are very different propositions; but comparisons 
are always odious and we will not here argue 
the case of the Brook Trout vs. the Black Bass. It is 
probably a fact that an impartial jury of anglers im- 
paneled from the country at large would bring in a 
verdict in favor of the defendant — the black bass. An 
enthusiastic bass fisherman, whom the writer met one 
day at his camp on the shore of a little lake in the 
Berkshires, summed up the matter to the satisfaction of 

73 



74 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

all present in this way: "I like to fish for brook trout," 
he said, "but I prefer to catch black bass." 

More than anything else the introduction of the 
short bait-casting rod and the general taking up by 
anglers of casting from the free-running reel has served 
to popularize the black bass and bass fishing. Bait-cast- 
ing from the reel is an inherently interesting angling 
method and in time will supersede among anglers any 
other form or forms of bass fishing. At the present time 
the method, while in very general use, cannot be said 
to be universal in any such degree as fly-casting for 
trout is generally practiced. But that it will eventually 
become the generally accepted and universally ac- 
credited form of sportsmanlike bass fishing now seems 
a certainty. 

The Natural History of the Black Bass 

You must know something of the habits of the black 
bass to fish for him successfully, and this is particularly 
true in the case of the devotee of bait-casting. Given 
a lake or stream with bass therein, something more is 
necessary than merely getting into a boat or a pair of 
waders, selecting some spot that looks sufficiently wee, 
and then casting for "general results." The small and 
large-mouth bass spawn during the months of May and 
June, the exact time depending upon the temperature. 
In water of a comparatively high temperature the 
spawning period is prior to that in waters lower in 
temperature, and in rivers the bass spawn earlier than 
in lakes and ponds. The nest is guarded by the male 
fish, and for some time after the eggs have hatched the 



BAIT-CASTER AND BASSES 75 

male parent guards the young fish. Small-mouths 
choose a gravelly bottom for building the nest, but the 
large-mouths sometimes do not discriminate in this 
regard. The spawning takes place in the shallows, and 
for some time thereafter, during the first days of the 
open season, the bass remain in moderately shallow 
water. At this time the bait-caster should fish on the 
surface. 

When lake-fishing, parallel the shore in your boat or 
canoe, casting shoreward to the edge of the weeds, in 
the shade of overhanging rocks, about 
^. y lily-pads and submerged trees and places 
^' of like nature. Find out where the bars 
are in the lake you are fishing and cast in to the edge 
of these. If the bar is a large one, forming an expan- 
sive shallow place, perhaps, as often occurs, well out 
in the middle of the lake, fish the whole of it. If you 
are fishing waters new to you, get some local angler 
or guide to locate the various bars. Once located you 
should take their bearings very carefully so that you can 
find them again. Looking for a lost bar in a big lake 
is an almost hopeless undertaking. 

Thus early in the season the water will be fairly 
clear of weeds and the angler can cast close in-shore 
without fouling the tackle. In quiet bays where there 
are lily-pads and flags, and the bottom has a tendency 
to be muddy, you will find the large-mouths. Off 
sandy bars and where gravel bottom predominates, or 
where the bottom is rocky, you may expect to find the 
small-mouth bass. The two often co-exist in the same 
pond or lake, and when caught you can easily differen- 



76 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

tiate them by observing the relative position of the 
angle of the jaw and the eye. In the large-mouth the 
angle of the jaw Is perceptibly to the rear of the eye; in 
the small-mouth It Is exactly underneath. 

As the season advances the bass work out Into deeper 

and cooler water. Now, except early or late in the 

day, when the fish may be feeding in the 

Rummer shallows, the bait-caster should use an 
°* under-water bait. Locate the spring- 
holes, for at this time the bass, particularly the small- 
mouths, congregate about these; If there are shady 
places along-shore, where the water Is of fair depth, try 
your luck there. For much success at this season you 
must go down to the fish. If you find the bait you arc 
using is not successful put on lead and the chances are 
it will make a difference. An ordinary spoon is a good 
lure for this purpose. When leaded it sinks rapidly and 
if not reeled in too quickly, travels at a good depth. A 
small dipsey sinker is the best to use. 

It is a mistake to rely wholly, as do some bait-casters, 
upon some form of surface bait. There are times, when, 
as every fly-fisherman has reason to know, trout and 
bass are not in a rising mood. As your boat moves 
along the shore you should whip the places which 
appear promising very thoroughly. One or two casts 
are sufficient for any one spot, but the next cast should 
not be more than three or four feet away. Sometimes 
a bass will only strike the bait when it is cast very 
close to him. This is particularly the case when the 
fish are lying close in-shore among the weeds and 
rushes. 



BAIT-CASTER AND BASSES 77 

During September and October the water is gradu- 
ally cooling and the bass are again to be found to quite 
an extent in the shallows. Most of the 

Autumn summer weed growths are dying down, 
^* the clouding effect of the summer "work- 
ing" has passed away, and the water is now pure and 
clear. All things considered, this is the best time for 
bass fishing, especially for the bait-caster. New life 
seems to have been imparted to the bass and they will 
rise freely and strike the bait with emphasis. At this 
time, during the early fall, surface fishing is generally 
very successful and the admirer of the floating bait for 
bass may safely give his preference full rein. 

For stream fishing the above methods should be modi- 
fied to suit the occasion. Wade wherever possible or, if 
the stream is too deep for this, use a canoe 

•J^^7^^ — ^^^ ^^^^ craft for river work. In 
°' streams small-mouths "use" about the 
edges of rifts and rapids and in the pools at the foot 
of rapids; they are fond of lying in the lee of sunken 
logs where there is a gentle current and underneath 
shelving banks; j^ou will often find them lying close to 
the banks underneath overhanging trees or brush and 
among submerged tree-roots from which the river has 
fretted the soil away. If there are large-mouths in the 
stream cast in the quiet coves where there are lily-pads 
and rushes and in the still, weedy reaches of the river. 

During the middle of the day, unless it is cloudy and 
dark, casting for bass is usually love's labor lost; even 
on cloudy days, when conditions appear most favorable, 
fishing at this time is apt to be unsuccessful. However, 



78 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

when the weather is unseasonably cold, the mid-day 
fishing is sometimes the best. The early 

weat er morning hours are the most fruitful in 
almost all waters, and the late afternoon 
and evening fishing is, other things being equal, always 
good. Under normal conditions bass feed principally 
early and late in the day. In the summer time, how- 
ever, during the full moon, when the nights are still and 
almost day-bright, the bass feed during the night, and 
day-time fishing is usually very poor. 

For a good fishing day it is by no means essential 
that the sky be overcast. A gray day is a good fishing 
day undoubtedly, but, in the writer's opinion, a bright, 
snappy day, with a good ripple on the water, is quite 
as likely to yield results. A bright, still day in the sum- 
mer time, when the weather is hot, is no fishing day 
for the bait-caster. Deep-trolling with live bait is 
about the only practicable method under such condi- 
tions. After the long continuance of a certain sort of 
weather, either bright or dark, dry or rainy, the fishing 
often falls ofE and then any change is one for the better. 

Minor weather changes are not liable to affect the 
river bass fishing greatly. Running water, the varying 
conformation of the banks and stream bottom, the fact 
that due to the many turns and bends of the river the 
wind affects in a different way different portions of the 
stream, these and other factors combine to keep the 
fishing fairly good under nearly all conditions. The 
stream bass angler, however, has to pay for his immun- 
ity from certain nuisances affecting the lake fisherman 
in the susceptibility of the stream to sudden rises 



BAIT-CASTER AND BASSES 79 

caused either by local rains or rains nearer the head- 
waters. When the rise is on and before the water has 
become too high and discolored is a propitious time ; it is, 
however, something in the nature of a psychological 
moment, for although the fishing may be very good 
while it lasts, it lasts but a short time. Then it is a 
case of waiting for the stream to go down. 

The black bass, either the large- or small-mouth, is 
one of the most erratic of game fishes. Bass fishermen 

of long experience generally come to the 

Bass Habits conclusion that, no matter how well ac- 

j .. quainted one may be with the waters 

fished and the customary habits and habi- 
tats of the bass therein, it is impossible for one to fore- 
cast with any certainty where the bass may be found 
or what sort of food or bait they may at any time 
prefer. In general bass habits are in great measure a 
m.atter of locality. Not only will a bass taken from a 
certain lake differ appreciably in coloration, and some- 
times slightly in formation, from one taken from a lake 
closely adjacent, but in the contrasted waters the habits 
of the fish will differ considerably. As above suggested 
you cannot do better, when about to fish new waters, 
than to rely upon the guidance of a resident angler. It 
is possible that you may know more about bass fishing 
than he does, but he will know more about the bass in 
that particular lake than do you. 

The Tackle for Bait-casting 

First-class sport in angling for any game fish is 
essentially a matter of the tackle and methods employed. 



8o THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

As noted above the present great and increasing interest 
in the black bass and in fishing for him may be attrib- 
uted largely to the introduction and very general 
adoption of the short bait-casting rod. Fly-fishing for 
black bass, since by far the greater part of bass angling 
is done in lakes — and lake fly-fishing for bass is not apt 
to be very productive — is difficult to find of a quality 
good enough to hold the angler's interest permanently. 
Where good fly-fishing for bass in running water may 
be had, that method would properly be preferred to 
bait-casting by the expert with the fly-rod. Barring 
this, bait-casting with the short casting rod and free- 
running reel is the most intrinsically interesting of all 
bass fishing methods and one calculated to afford rea- 
sonable sport under almost all conditions. 

The writer has elsewhere discussed bait-casting tackle 
at some length ("Fishing Kits and Equipment"), but in 
view of the fact that the required tackle and the cor- 
rect way of casting with it are not nearly as well un- 
derstood among anglers in general as the tackle and 
methods for fly-casting, it seems best to include here a 
few notes on the casting rod, the casting reel and other 
bait-casting equipment, together with suggestions m 
regard to the use of the rod in casting. 

The typical modern short casting rod, as distinguished 
from the old style and longer casting rods of which the 
well-known "Henshall" rod may be 
■*■ ^^ . taken as an example, and which the 
^ , ^ short rods have largely superseded, va- 
ries in length for practical fishing pur- 
poses from five and a half to six feet. For distance 



BAIT-CASTER AND BASSES 8i 

tournament casting, shorter rods are sometimes used. 
The essential difference in the use of the short rod and 
that of the long is that the short rod is employed almost 
exclusively to cast artificial baits, spoons, singlehook 
fly-spoons, artificial minnows, and pork-rind baits of 
various descriptions, and to cast them largely w^ith the 
overhead cast; while the longer rod is best adapted for 
the live minnow with the side cast. Overhead casting 
is not practicable with rods much over six feet in 
length. When fishing it is very advantageous to be 
able to employ the overhead and side casts at will ; also, 
at the present time, the tendency among bait-casters Is 
very strongly toward the use of artificial baits. 

When selecting the bait-casting rod the angler should 
consider, in addition to the casting qualities of the rod, 
its suitability to playing and landing fish. Within 
reason the shorter rods are better suited to long casting, 
say the rod of five to five and a half feet. But the 
caster who employs a rod of this length, surely sacrifices 
efficiency in handling his fish. As a general rule the 
longer the rod the more control you have over a hooked 
fish, also the more certain you are of hooking a rising 
fish. But to still retain good casting qualities in the 
rod and the ability to use it for both styles of casting, 
side and overhead, the rod must not be much over six 
feet; all things considered, the six-foot rod is the best 
for all general bait-casting purposes. Its material 
should, for light fishing, be split-bamboo. For heavy 
fishing in weedy lakes and deep, swift rivers a sturdy 
rod of bethabara or greenheart is more serviceable. 

The guides of the rod must allow free-running of 



82 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

the line with the least possible friction and for this 
reason should be fairly large. German silver trumpet 
guides are very good ones for the purpose, and to in- 
crease the ease of casting and lessen line-wear from 
friction it is well to have agate hand and tip guides, 
since it is at these points that the most friction occurs. 
The very best way to fit the rod in the matter of guides 
is to use narrow raised agates throughout, although 
this is rather expensive. The reel-seat must, of course, 
be above the handgrasp, and all rod mountings should 
preferably be of German silver. 

Bait-casting can be done only with a quadruple inulti- 

plying reel. It should be rather long in the barrel as 

compared with the diameter of the side 

The Casting pistes. The size may be either eighty or 

, T • one hundred yards. A very good one — a 

and Line. . , . . \^, , 

cheap castmg reel is impossible — may be 

had for seven dollars and upwards. The position of 

the reel on the rod is on top of the rod with the handle 

to the right, and the rod is never to be turned so that 

the reel is underneath. 

As for the line it must be of undressed silk, no water- 
proofing or enameling; it must also be of small caliber, 
size G being the most used. No line save an undressed 
one of small size can be used for casting from the reel. 

As noted above the present tendency of anglers in the 

matter of baits for bass is to use artificial ones almost 

entirely. There are a great many of 

Artihcial ^j^^^^ j^^j^g ^^ ^^i^ market, but only a few 
Baits. , , . , . 1 

or them are either practical or sports- 
manlike. The beginner at bait-casting will do well to 



BAIT-CASTER AND BASSES 83 

use one of the floating baits; when he gets into trouble 
with the reel, as he most assuredly will, the bait will not 
go to the bottom with the probability of getting fast 
when the angler is picking out the tangle. The float- 
ing baits induce a great many strikes. Personally I use 
a small bucktail spoon a great deal, and the small spin- 
ners fitted with single-hook bass, flies are very satisfac- 
tory; with these last a quarter-ounce dipsey sinker 
should be used. Pork-rind baits are usually very suc- 
cessful and these the angler may cut himself or they 
may be had in preserved form from the tackle dealers. 
The pork-rind bait is best used on a small white enam- 
eled spoon. The various artificial minnows are much 
used and very successful lures for bait-casting. 

Casting from the Reel 
There are two methods of casting from the reel, the 
side cast and the overhead cast. The side cast is the 
easier one to negotiate and the beginner will do well 
at first to confine his attention to this. First, the bait, 
spoon or artificial minnow, is reeled up to within about 
six inches of the tip guide. The rod, then, pointing 
appreciably downward below the waistline, is swung 
at arm's length to the rear of the caster and then 
brought forward with a steady sweeping motion. Up 
to the point when the line is to be released and allowed 
to run out through the guides as a result of the momen- 
tum of the swinging rod, the thumb of the rod hand is 
kept firmly clamped on the line wound on the reel- 
spool. When the swing of the rod has reached a point 
where the line when released will shoot out in the 



84 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

desired direction for the cast, the pressure of the thumb 
on the reel is slightly, not entirely, released ; while the 
line is running out the thumb is constantly pressed very 
gently on the revolving reel-spool, as otherwise the reel 
will revolve faster than the line pays out through the 
guides and a backlash will result. 

The whole philosophy of the thing is in educating the 
thumb to regulate the reel speed and out-running of the 
line. Finally, when the cast has been made and the line 
is being reeled in, care must be taken to wind it evenly 
on the reel. Of course, at the end of the cast when the 
bait reaches the water the rod is shifted from the right 
hand to the left so that the right hand may be used on 
the reel handle. So, for winding the line evenly on the 
reel spool in the retrieve, guide it with the thumb of 
the left hand, grasping the rod above the reel with that 
hand. Casts of from sixty to eighty feet are quite suf- 
ficient for good fishing. 

In the overhead cast the rod is brought directly back 
over the shoulder, taking care not to allow it to go too 
far down behind, and then swung quickly forward. 
Otherwise the principles are the same as for the side 
cast. The overhead cast should be started rather 
slowly, increasing in force, and the line released when 
the rod tip is about over the caster's head. The rod 
should be so held that when the line is running out the 
side plates of the reel are parallel with the water, with 
the handle-bar on top. 



BAIT-CASTER AND BASSES 85 

Some Practical Suggestions 

When bait-casting for bass with an artificial bait, 
unless you reel in so quickly that the line is practically 
taut, the fish must be struck much as In fly-fishing. It 
sometimes happens, of course, that the bass will strike 
hard enough to hook himself even on a slack line, but 
more often the opposite is the case. The strike in bait- 
casting is one of the things which must be learned when 
taking up this method of fishing. Primarily it differs 
from the strike in fly-fishing in that it is made with the 
left hand, that is, if the caster is right-handed. The 
education of the left hand to this work is a matter of 
much practice and naturally the length of time taken 
to learn it depends upon the skill of the angler in get- 
ting the fish to strike as well as upon the natural adapt- 
ability of the angler to learning new methods of tackle 
handling. It is quite possible for an angler to be an 
expert fly-caster and still be unable to educate his 
thumb to bait-casting. 

When casting toward a fixed point where a bass may 
be located, such as a patch of lily pads or rushes, or 
the edge of a bar, the strike of the bass may be expected 
at the instant the bait strikes the water. For this 
reason the angler should be careful to start the retrieve 
at once. When a bass strikes In this manner he usually 
hooks himself if the line Is at all taut. Sometimes a 
bass will see the bait when It Is still moving through the 
air and will follow Its course to the point of contact 
with the water, when he will strike it. But even under 
these circumstances It is best to set the hook in the fish, 
although the strike need not be strenuous. 



86 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

In the writer's experience more bass are raised and 
hooked at the moment the lure strikes the water, or 
almost immediately thereafter, than when the bait is 
being reeled or trolled in. Certainly a good bait-caster 
can kill more bass by casting any certain artificial bait 
than the fisherman who trolls the same bait. It is the 
motion and impact of the bait upon the water which 
arouses the fighting blood of the bass and causes him 
to rise and strike. 

Bass as a rule strike an artificial lure from the rear. 
Of course, when the bait is cast to one side of the fish, 
he takes advantage of the fact that the shortest distance 
between two points is a straight line and strikes from 
the side. But when the bait is being reeled in a bass 
most often comes to it from the rear. It is for this 
reason that moderately slow reeling is always most 
successful. If the lure is moving at too great speed 
short rises are apt to occur, and if the bass is slightly 
pricked it is not at all probable that he will come again. 
Pickerel, it should be noted, almost invariably strike 
from the side, and here again slow reeling is of import- 
ance, for a clean miss frequently results when the bait 
is moving too fast. 

When a bass is fastened at the end of a long cast the 
tendency of the angler is to hurry him in to the boat, 
where he can be played to more advantage. This often 
results in the loss of the fish. It should be remembered 
that a quadruple multiplying reel is of lightning speed, 
and consequently fast cranking is not only unnecessary 
but risky. When fishing in very weedy waters, how- 
ever, it is often a case of speedy reeling or the loss of 



BAIT-CASTER AND- BASSES 87 

the fish in the weeds. Here the situation offers only a 
choice of evils, and the balance of advantage is probably 
on the side of fast reeling. A bass can imbed himself 
in a mass of weeds in an unappreciable moment, and 
you will then often lose not only fish but tackle. As a 
general rule, however, avoid trying to lead a big fish 
until he shows an inclination for being led. 

It sometimes happens, although rarely, that a bass 
will follow the bait until it is almost up to the boat 
before he strikes it. This is a situation productive of 
several different kinds of disasters, unless the angler 
keeps his wits about him. If the rod is perpendicular, 
or nearly so, at the moment the bass strikes, a smashed 
tip is liable to result if any attempt is made to set the 
hook. The chances are that the bass has hooked him- 
self and he should be slacked instead of struck and only 
slightly restrained until he is in a position where he can 
be played advantageously. 

Naturally it is impossible to state any invariable rule 
as to how, when, or where a bass will strike. Individ- 
ual fish act differently under like circumstances and 
bass in different waters vary much in habits. As in 
trout fly-fishing it is the often unexpected manner in 
which the bass makes known his presence that affords 
one of the principal attractions of the sport. 

When the Bloom is OH the Water 

Other things being equal, the question of when to 

go is quite as important to the sportsman, especially the 

angler, as the question of where to go. No matter how 

well the sportsman may be outfitted in the matter of 



88 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

tackle and experience and how wisely and well he may 
have chosen the locality for the sport he desires, If the 
question of the proper time to go, the season of the year 
in its relation to the habits of the game, is not duly con- 
sidered the trip may result in absolute failure. This is 
particularly true as regards selecting the time for a 
bass fishing trip. 

In most States the open season for black bass Is a 
very long one, much longer than for brook trout. As 
a general thing the law protects the bass only during 
the spawning season, say for a period of two months, 
all the rest of the year being open season. May and 
June are the usual close months, and at any other time 
the bass may be legally taken. But, notwithstanding 
the length of the open season, the character of the black 
bass 'and his habits are such that the occasions distinctly 
favorable for bass fishing are not numerous or of long 
duration. Undoubtedly the black bass Is the most 
fished for of any American game fish, and, undoubtedly, 
in proportion to the number of fishermen, the annual 
catch is the smallest. This is because not every man 
who packs a fishing rod is an angler ; and it is also due 
to the fact that the black bass is, above all, the great 
American "vacation" game fish, sought for very largely 
as a mere Incident of the summer vacation, the number 
of men to whom the bass fishing Is really a chief object 
being comparatively small; although, of course, among 
anglers, there are many who favor bass fishing above 
all forms of the sport. 

Generally speaking, summer fishing for black bass is 
not overproductlve. This is due to a number of causes 



BAIT-CASTER AND BASSES 89 

but principally to the fact that at this time the fish are 
in very deep water. August, especially, 'is a very poor 
month; a succession of still, sultry days and nights is 
the usual thing for almost the entire month. By day 
the lake or river lies quiet and glassy in the blazing 
heat of the sun, and often the nights in the full of the 
moon are nearly day-light. As a consequence the bass 
seek the coolness to be found only in the deepest water 
and are distinctly off their feed. Successful bass fish- 
ing under such conditions should not be expected, and 
yet it is probably a fact that more bass fishing is done 
in August than in any other month. August is the 
generally accepted and duly accredited American vaca- 
tion month. The summer bass angler who confines his 
fishing to the early morning hours, and again from sun- 
down until dark, when the bass run into the shallows to 
some extent, will sometimes have fairly good sport. 
The bait-caster, especially, fishing early and late, may 
have fair success. But, however much bass fishing is 
done in the summer time, the angling at this time is 
not really satisfactory. 

There are two periods in the year when bass fishing 
is at its best, and neither of them is of long durati6n. 
Weather being favorable, the first two or three weeks 
of the open season, when the bass are still generally in 
the rather shallow water, is a very good time to select 
for a bass fishing trip. Bait-casting and fly-fishing may 
then be depended upon for making good catches of 
either large- or small-mouthed bass; the bait-caster 
will make good scores with either surface or sinking 
lures, and the fly-caster, fishing in streams known to 



90 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

furnish good bass fly-fishing, should have no trouble in 
connecting with a satisfactory catch. But, as noted, 
this favorable time is rather short, the bass soon moving 
into deep water with the coming of the true summer 
weather. Follow then some six or seven weeks, the 
good old summer time, when bass angling is at its 
worst and the vacation fisherman at his best. And then 
comes the best time of all the year for bass fishing, the 
first few weeks in the fall, while the weather still holds 
comparatively warm, but the water has grown some- 
what cooler. 

At some time during the summer, the exact time dif- 
fering with the locality, every bass lake begins to 
"work" or "bloom"; that is, the aquatic vegetation 
growing upon the lake bottom has reached maturity 
and begins to throw off seeds. In a short time the 
water takes on a milky appearance, is almost opaque, 
and filled with floating particles. Naturally fishing is 
at a standstill. Prior to this time also almost every lake 
becomes very weedy, the weeds eventually reaching the 
surface of the water along shore in the shallows and 
often coming within a foot or two of the surface in 
water from fifteen to twenty feet deep. 

This makes the bass fishing rather more like raking 
hay than angling, and fishing at this time, especially 
bait- or fly-casting, is productive principally of smashed 
tackle and lost tempers. Later in the season, however, 
the lakes cease working, and the water clears; the 
weeds, too, die down considerably. With weather clear 
and just cool enough to be pleasant, the conditions 
generally prevailing in the early fall, with water also 



BAIT-CASTER AND BASSES 91 

clear and sufficiently cool to bring the bass again into 
the shallows, It would appear that the first weeks of 
autumn, "when the bloom Is off the water," are a 
pretty good time to go bass fishing — In fact, the very 
best. 

To the writer It seems that, above all other methods 
of angling for black bass, balt-casting Is to be preferred 
both for sport and results In fall fishing for bass. In 
both lakes and streams, the bass, both the large- and 
small-mouth, as above noted, are now In the shallower 
portions of lake and stream, on the bars and In the 
riffles, a condition decidedly favorable for bait-casting, 
particularly so to the bait-caster who prefers the use of 
the various top-water baits. With the coming of cool 
water the fish gain a new lease of life, an accession of 
activity and pugnacity, and are not at all the same fish 
which, In the tepid water and sultry atmosphere of 
July and August, required lengthy and super-skilful 
teasing to make them rise. The bait-caster may con- 
fidently rely for success upon any of the accepted cast- 
ing baits, either surface or sinking, and the ordinary 
trolling spoon or single-hook fly-spoon, used in the same 
manner, are very successful in the fall months. The 
angler should look for his fish along the shelving lake 
shores and on the bars, and, in the streams, on point, 
bar, or in the riffles. 

In the matter of tackle, before starting out for a bass 
fishing trip in the fall, the angler who has done more 
or less fishing during the summer should carefully test 
his casting line. With the best of care, It has been the 
writer's experience that the unwaterproofed bait-cast- 



92 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

ing line of small caliber which has been in use since 
the opening of the bass season is not to be trusted when 
the season is nearing its end. It should be carefully 
tested and the weaker portions broken off until you have 
a length of good, strong line, or a visit to the tackle 
dealer is rendered imperative. 

A weak line is not only conducive to lost fish, but 
is also an expensive luxury in the matter of snapping 
off baits. Also, the mental poise of the angler who 
realizes at one and the same instant that he has on the 
largest bass he ever saw, and that he has him on a rotten 
line, is not at all conducive to the calm and strategic 
handling of a large fish. As a general rule it is well to 
strengthen the tackle at all points for fall bass fishing, 
for at this time one is more apt to make connections 
with large bass than at any time during the season. 

Although the preference of some anglers would cer- 
tainly be for bait-casting, it is not to be understood that 
fly-fishing is at a discount in the autumn. The con- 
trary is true. But the fly-caster should choose for the 
scene of action some well-known bass river, rather than 
a lake. As a general rule, with, of course, the usual 
exceptions necessary to prove it, fly-fishing for bass in 
lakes is not ordinarily a success. It is much better to 
select some wadable river where you can go about it in 
the same manner as trout flj^-fishing is usually done. A 
canoe cruise on some good river, with bass fly-fishing 
as its object, in the fine weather prevailing in September 
and October, is a form of sport hard to equal. Since 
bait-casting is equally effective in either lake or river, 



BAIT-CASTER AND BASSES 93 

the canoeist may, If he chooses, depend upon his bait- 
casting rod for both *'grub" and sport. 

The fly-caster who has done most of his casting when 
wading would do well to practice casting from a canoe 
before starting out on a canoeing trip having for its 
object bass fly-fishing. A fact not generally recognized 
is that fly-casting when wading and fly-casting from a 
canoe are two very different propositions — you have 
only to try It once to admit this. It does not here seem 
advisable to discuss the technicalities of fly-casting from 
a boat or canoe; it should be noted, however, that one 
of the most important things is, when a cast has been 
made and In the retrieve, to keep a taut line from 
water to rod tip by stripping in the line through the 
guides with the left hand. It Is also a good plan not 
to use your trout fly-rod, unless it is a very strong one, 
for bass fishing. The fine little trout rod, adapted to 
fly-casting In small streams. Is ineffective and certain 
to be damaged if used much for bass fishing. The 
analogy between handling a quarter-pound brook trout 
and a two-pound small-mouthed bass Is not at all too 
close for comfort. 

The angler planning a trip for the fall months should 
remember that, while the days are sure to be comfort- 
ably warm, the nights are apt to be uncomfortably 
cool, and he should add to his summer camp kit, divers 
sweaters, blankets, etc. Also the fact that at this time 
It is permissible to kill waterfowl and upland game 
should not be overlooked, and a small-bore rifle or a 
shotgun, the former preferable from the canoeist's 
point of view, may add acceptably to the bill of fare. 



94 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

The camera, too, should be taken along, for although 
one may not record the beautiful color schemes of an 
autumn day, one can still make better photographs 
than in mid-summer. 



CHAPTER VI 

THE NAMAYCUSH, THE MASCALONGE 
AND OTHERS 

THE Great Lakes trout or namaycush trout, 
Cristivojner natnaycushj and the mascalonge, 
Esox masquinongy , are the "big game" fishes of 
the sweet-water angler. Of the two the mascalonge is 
undoubtedly the better game fish but, unfortunately, 
far less widely distributed than the lake trout. The 
mascalonge also, as a surface fish, that is, for the most 
part inhabiting the fairly shallow water along-shore 
in the vicinity of the weed beds, may be fished for with 
more sportsmanlike tackle and methods than are practi- 
cable in the case of the namaycush, the latter being es- 
sentially a deep-water fish. Fishing for "lakers," how- 
ever, when done rightly, is far from being poor sport; 
but the angler to get any appreciable results must know 
his fish and the way to fish for them. Lake trout fish- 
ing is quite unlike any other form of angling. Many 
lakes and ponds containing lake trout in abundance 
have been fished for years by anglers for bass, pike, or 
pickerel without so much as a strike from a laker. 

95 



96 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

Deep-trolling for the Great Lakes Trout ^ 

The angler for black bass or brook trout, or, for that 
matter, the canoeist or hunter — anyone who elects the 

early fall for his outing — would do well 
Autumn ^^ include among the possibilities of his 

trip a try for lake trout. The necessary 
additions to the general outfit are not at all bulky or 
numerous, and where good fishing for lake trout may 
be had — and this is the case in numerous localities, par- 
ticularly in Maine, Canada, the Adirondacks, the Berk- 
shires, and many other regions identified with the sports 
of hunting and fishing — the results are such as to ren- 
der the trouble of selecting and carrying the requisite 
tackle quite inconsiderable; moreover, while of a very 
special sort, the tackle for lakers is a matter of little 
expense. 

The range of the Great Lakes trout, the name having 
reference to the Great Lakes and not, as some anglers 

and angling writers seem to understand 
° * it, to the size of the fish, is given by 
Jordan and Evermann as follows: "The namaycush 
trout is found in most large lakes from New Brunswick 
and Maine westward throughout the Great Lakes 
region and to Vancouver Island, thence northward to 
Northern Alaska, Hudson Bay, and Labrador. It is 
known from Henry Lake in Idaho and elsewhere in the 
headwaters of the Columbia. It is known also from 
the Fraser River basin, from Vancouver Island, and 
various places in Alaska." 

The lake trout is so highly and justly appreciated as 



NAMAYCUSH AND OTHERS 97 

a food and game fish that it is now artificially propa- 
gated by both Federal and State hatcheries and the 
range has accordingly increased far beyond its original 
limits. Stocking waters with lake trout is usually very 
successful and few if any failures to obtain results are 
reported. In every case known to the writer where 
the stocking was carefully and intelligently done the 
results have been entirely satisfactory. The lake trout 
is a hardy fish and its growth is fast, especially when 
planted in lakes not previously having these fish, since 
in such waters food is very abundant. 

It is a noteworthy fact that many of the "big trout" 
stories industriously circulated every year, particularly 

fish tales from M^ine and Canada, are 
iMg 1 rout founded upon the more or less skilful and 

authentic capture of a good-sized lake 
trout on trolling tackle and not upon the taking of a 
brook trout, fontinalis, on the fly. Of course, in the 
waters of Maine and Canada, some very large brook 
trout are taken quite frequently by fly-fishermen, trout 
running from three to six pounds and, far less fre- 
quently, heavier than that. 

Anglers who specialize on lake trout fishing con- 
sider a six-pound fish a small one. Anglers who spe- 
cialize on fly-fishing for brook trout, it goes without 
saying, do not consider a six-pound fish a small one. 
Consequently, if you are a worthy and hard-working 
fly-caster with, as yet, a two-pound trout as j^our record 
fish, do not be unduly shocked when a friend reputedly 
not over-skilful in angling affairs writes you from the 
North Woods that he has captured an "eight-pound 



98 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

trout." In every case where the catch is simply hazily 
reported as "a trout" it is well to examine the facts 
before bestowing possibly unearned laurels. In some 
localities the lake trout is called "togue," and In others 
it Is variously known as 'lunge" (very easy to confuse 
with the mascalonge), "tulade," ''gray trout," "Macki- 
naw," "laker," and "salmon trout." The lake trout 
should never be called a "salmon trout" for the reason 
stated in the following paragraph. 

The lake trout is a charr, not a salmon trout, having 

the characteristic lack of teeth on the front of the bone 

in the roof of the mouth, this being the 

e JNamay- j^Qg^ striking difference in formation be- 

cush a Charr. , , , , i 

tween the charr and the salmon trout. 

The lake trout is a charr, a large and coarse one to be 
sure, when compared with the more familiar and finer- 
grained speckled brook trout, but, nevertheless, a charr. 
If your trout has teeth on both the front and rear of 
the roof of the mouth it is a salmon trout; if only on 
the rear of the mouth it is a charr. 

Occasionally the lake trout attains a very large size, 

sometimes over one hundred pounds; but thirty pounds 

may be safely stated as the heaviest fish 

Average ^^^ angler may hope for. Lake trout 
weighing between twelve and twenty- 
five pounds are taken quite commonly where the fishing 
is ordinarily good, but the average weight of fish taken 
by anglers is in the vicinity of eight pounds. 

The head and mouth of the namaycush are, pro- 
portionately, quite large, and the head is depressed, that 
is, rather flat. The tail Is deeply forked. In colora- 



NAMAYCUSH AND OTHERS 99 

tlon it is ordinarily a rather dark gray, marked pro- 
fusely with spots of a lighter tinge. The 
formation j^^^j jg marbled, or vermiculated, like 

^ 1 ^. the back of the brook trout. Occasionally 
Coloration. , , 1 , -n 1 , ,. 1 

the spots on the body will show a reddish 

shade. Generally speaking, the lake trout is a handsome 
and w^ell-formed game fish, the larger specimens having 
length in proportion to girth. A fifteen- or sixteen- 
pound fish will measure about thirty-tw^o inches. 

It is said that the lake trout early in the spring 
comes into the shallows for a period of a few daj'S 

when it may be taken on ordinary light 
. tackle. However this may be — and the 

writer is inclined to believe that this 
period must be very short indeed and that in some lakes 
it does not occur at all — angling for lakers is done 
almost entirely by deep-trolling. Also it is a fact that 
the early season excursion of the namaycush to the sur- 
face waters is quite apt to take place before fishing for 
them may be done legally. In lakes where early fishing 
for lakers on the surface and in the shallows is an 
accomplished fact they may be taken on the fly as well 
as by trolling. Successful surface fishing is, however, 
a pretty rare thing, and it does not seem advisable to 
consider it here to any extent. For trolling heavy bass 
tackle will answer the purpose; and for fly-fishing a 
fly-rod suited to large stream and bass fly-fishing, say 
a ten-foot, seven-ounce rod, will be right. On this rod 
you should use forty yards of enameled line, size E, on 
a single-action reel. Flies dressed on sproat hooks 
numbers six and four will be sufficiently large, and 



loo THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

good flies for lake trout are: royal coachman, Parma- 
chene belle, Montreal, and silver doctor. 

The lake trout is essentially a deep-water game fish, 
habitually seeking the very deepest portions of its habi- 
tat. It should be trolled for, therefore, 

^.^f^ in water running from fifty to one hun- 
dred feet or over in depth, preferably 
where the bottom is rocky, and off rocky reefs extend- 
ing down into deep water. This being the case, it is 
not difficult to understand why anglers for bass and 
other fish never strike a namaycush, and also why tackle 
of a very specialized sort must be used in lake trout 
fishing. In mid-summer another good place to "work" 
is in the vicinity of the spring-holes. Almost every lake 
has its resident fisherman or fishermen — gentlemen of 
infinite leisure and obscure habits who "live off the 
lake" by fishing and guiding — who, for a suitable 
stipend, will reveal to you the geography of the lake 
bottom as regards its bars, reefs, spring-holes, etc., mat- 
ters of the utmost importance to the angler for lake 
trout. 

As for the practical side of deep-trolling, the matter 

of tackle, there are two methods in general use. You 

can use either a hand-line with a heavy 

'^^ vi ^^ sinker or you can employ a metal line, 
which sinks sufficiently deep by its own 
weight, on a fairly heavy trolling rod. The former 
method is distinctly the less sportsmanlike and desir- 
able. The latter method, only recently introduced, 
makes a much better sport of lake trout fishing than it 



NAMAYCUSH AND OTHERS loi 

has ever been before. In detail the tackle for these two 
methods of fishing is as follows: 

For trolling with the hand-line — in which manner it 
IS to be regretted the greater share of lake trout fishing 
IS still done — jou will need a twisted linen line of 
twenty-one or twenty-four threads at least two hun- 
dred feet in length. The line, it should be stated, must 
be of rather large caliber in order to prevent its cutting 
the hands when in use. Cut off eighteen or twenty feet 
of the line at one end and tie in a triple action or "three- 
way" swivel at the point of cutting. To the third 
swivel tie about fifteen feet of line somewhat weaker 
than the main line ; this is for the sinker and it must be 
weaker than the main line so that if the sinker is fouled 
the sinker line will break rather than the main line. 

Use a swiveled dipsey sinker of four to eight ounces 
according to the depth of water. The bait and ar- 
rangement of hook or hooks will be the same as for 
use on a metal line and will be discussed in a later 
paragraph. It is a good plan to tie the sinker to the 
line in such a manner that when the fish has been led 
in close enough to the boat the sinker line may be taken 
into the boat and the sinker instantly and easily removed 
from the line by a single pull. Any simple jam-knot 
will make this possible. 

The better method of deep-trolling consists in using 
fifty to one hundred yards of braided copper wire line 

, _ , on a trolling rod of suitable weight and 

Metal Line. , • . t i • • j • 

dimensions. In this way you avoid using 

the heavy sinker — a thorough spoil-sport — necessary 
with the linen line as the weight of the metal line sinks 



I02 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

it sufficiently deep. This line is made of a number of 
fine strands of copper wire braided over a silk core 
and should not be confused with the inferior solid cop- 
per wire lines. The braided copper line spools well 
on the reel, does not easily kink, and even if the latter 
does occur is not liable to part at the kink, no one of 
which things may be said for the ordinary solid copper 
line. Braided copper line may be had in fifty-yard 
spools and in two sizes, E and F, of which the smaller 
is the best to use in lakes of moderate depth. Size E 
should be used in very deep waters. 

A reel is made and sold generally by the tackle deal- 
ers that is particularly adapted to deep-trolling with 

copper lines of the sort described above. 

This reel is single action and supplied 
with a strong, reliable, and easily manipulated drag; 
it is made of metal and is of large diameter in order 
that each revolution of the spindle may take up a good 
quantity of line. With solid copper lines — inferior, as 
above stated, to those of braided copper — large wooden 
reels, the same as used in commoner forms of salt- 
water fishing, are generally used. The metal reel 
described in this paragraph is far superior to the wooden 
reel and should by all means be employed for the sort 
of angling under discussion. Of course, any reel of 
large size, either double- or quadruple-multiplying, may 
be used. These last, however, if large enough to hold 
seventy-five to one hundred yards of size F braided cop- 
per line and of good quality, are rather expensive. The 
single-action metal reel recommended herein is quite 
Inexpensive and also quite good enough for the purpose, 



NAMAYCUSH AND OTHERS 103 

it being taken for granted that deep-trolling, in all 
probability, will be indulged in only occasionally as a 
foil to your fly- or bait-casting. 

In the matter of the rod any good trolling rod with 
a stiff backbone will answer the purpose. Its length 
may be from seven to eight and a quar- 
ter feet, and its material bethabara, split- 
bamboo, or steel. The lancewood rod is excepted be- 
cause this material is apt to be too whippy. The reel- 
seat should be above the handgrasp. The guides of the 
rod should be fairly large to allow the line to run 
freely. German silver trumpet guides are the best for 
the purpose. The rod should weigh from eight to nine 
ounces and, as noted, should have considerable back- 
bone in order to handle the heavy metal line, without 
strain. A "Henshall" casting rod in bethabara or 
split-bamboo and weighing eight or nine ounces will be 
a very good one for the purpose. 

The leader and arrangement of hooks and bait are 
the same in both methods of deep-trolling with either 
linen or copper lines. Leaders of fine 
steel wire are used to some extent, but 
are hardly necessary. A leader of either double- or 
triple-twisted gut is quite strong enough for the pur- 
pose and is preferable in a good many waj^s to one of 
metal. To each end of the leader should be attached 
a clew-spring swivel for connection with the line and 
the trolling gang or artificial bait. One or two extra 
leaders should be carried in a soak-box. 

For use with the natural minnow regular lake trout 
trolling gangs are sold by the tackle dealers consisting 



I04 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

generally of three burrs or triple hooks and a lip-hook 

on gut. This number of hooks is neither 

atura imperative or sportsmanlike and, at 
Baits. . . 1 1 1 

most, It IS best to use not more than the 

lip-hook and one treble. The gang should be tied on 
double gut. The natural minnow is the very best bait 
for lakers, and the minnows should be large, from five 
to seven inches in length. Brook "shiners" are the 
most effective. Sometimes when it is difficult to obtain 
minnows large enough small suckers are used, but these 
are not ordinarily very successful. I have even known 
of small brook trout being sacrificed for the purpose of 
trolling for lakers. It seems hardly necessary to con- 
demn this. 

In some localities it is difficult to obtain minnows in 
sufficient quantity or large enough for lake trout troll- 
ing and in such case resort may be had 

Artificial ^Q various artificial baits. Artificial baits 
are not as successful with the namaycush 
as the natural minnow, but many good lakers are taken 
on them. One of the best artificials for lake trout is 
known as the "silver soldier." This is a minnow made 
of German silver, simply a flat, curved piece of metal 
cut in minnow-shape and fitted with a single hook. A 
number of trolling spoons are adapted to lake trout 
fishing and the best of these are the ones which do not 
revolve in the manner of the orthodox trolling spoon 
but play from side to side when drawn through the 
water. When deep-trolling it is often impracticable 
to keep the boat moving fast enough to get sufficient 
spin on the ordinary trolling spoon. It is also practi- 



NAMAYCUSH AND OTHERS 105 

cable to use the wooden bait-casting minnows or phan- 
toms. Fairly large trolling spoons should be used. 

A very necessary item in the kit of the angler for 
lake trout is a good strong gaff. The smaller trout, 

from four to six pounds, may be safely 

landed in a large landing net, if the 
frame and handle of the net are strong and the net 
itself strongly woven and firmly attached to the frame, 
but for the larger fish a gaff is practically imperative. 
On one lake where the writer trolled for lakers the local 
talent used frog spears in place of gaffs — four-pronged 
affairs something like a small pitchfork. It was some- 
what amusing and rather exciting to listen to the 
ensuing conversation in case a poorly hooked trout was 
knocked off the hook when the fisherman jabbed him 
with the "grains" and the weapon failed to hold. On 
no account use one of the murderous "patent" spring 
gaffs. If it is desired to mount the fish as a trophy the 
gaf? should not be used. The best alternative in case 
neither net or gaff is at hand and if the fish is a large 
one, is to shoot it through the head with a twenty-two 
pistol or rifle. 

Deep-trolling requires one man at the oars and an- 
other to handle the rod. The boat should alwaj^s move 

slowly in order that the line may run 
mcticai sufficiently deep and the progress of the 

boat should be at an even pace. When 
trolling with the hand-line the angler should, from time 
to time, "feel bottom" with the sinker to be certain that 
he is fishing in the proper depth of water. As above 
noted the trolling should be done along the deep chan- 



io6 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

nels, over spring-holes, and where the bottom is rocky. 

When a fish is struck it should not be hurried into 
the boat but played in gradually. As a usual thing, 
particularly when a hand-line is used, the lake trout 
will do most of his fighting after being brought within 
sight of the boat. It will then make swift rushes from 
side to side or again bore steadily down into deep 
water. At such times line should be freely given the 
trout, not reeling in again until the fish stops running 
or sounding. The fish should never be landed until it 
is thoroughly played to a finish — a namaycush of good 
size if prematurely taken into the boat while it is still 
full of fight will make things exceedingly interesting for 
the occupants of the craft. 

The method of deep-trolling with metal lines, with 
certain variations of tackle to suit the occasion, may be 
used for other game fishes than the namaycush in the 
summer months when the hot weather has driven most 
of them to the deep water — and used with success. 

The Mascalonge, Pike, and Pickerel 

Of the pike family {Esocidae) three members claim 
the attention of anglers, namely, the mascalonge, Esox 
masquinongy, the pike, Esox Iticius, and the Eastern 
pickerel, Esox reticidattis. In England, pike fishing is 
far more popular than in America. Of the three fishes 
mentioned the mascalonge is the only one which receives 
the serious attention of the American angler, and even 
this fine game fish, owing to its somewhat restricted 
range, is well-known and regularly fished for by com- 
paratively few anglers. Probably the most accessible 



NAMAYCUSH AND OTHERS 107 

place for the Eastern angler who wishes to have a try 
at the mascalonge is Chautauqua Lake in New York 
where the unspotted mascalonge, Esox ohiensis, is some- 
what abundant. 

Undoubtedly were it not for the black bass, a game 
fish unknown to the English angler, fishing for the 
various members of the pike family, particularly the 
mascalonge and Great Lakes pike, would be far more 
popular in this country and more seriously undertaken, 
quite as much so as in England. As a matter of fact, 
the mascalonge, of course, the pike, and even the pickerel 
are worthy of any angler's steel. But the extensive 
range of the large- and small-mouthed black bass, and 
their undoubted game qualities, to say nothing of the 
various species of brook trout, serve to relegate the pike 
and pickerel to the class of less-desirables, while the 
comparative scarcity and inaccessibility of good masca- 
longe waters tend to keep this fish — by many considered 
the gamest and the finest fish of American fresh-waters 
— in the background. 

Although individually the most important members 
of the pike family differ greatly, treated collectively, 
their habits are much the same. All are shoal-water 
fishes, "using" principally in the weed beds along-shore 
and on the bars of lake or river; all are habitually and 
most destructively piscivorous, always seeking whom 
they may devour. Owing to the similarity of habits 
angling for mascalonge, pike, or pickerel differs intrin- 
sically more in means than in ways — the methods em- 
ployed are quite similar, the tackle varying to suit the 
occasion and the quarry. 



io8 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

Scientific details concerning the range, formation, 
coloration, and other matters dealing with the natural 
history of the pike family, have been very fully given in 
almost every angling book, w^hile the more practical 
phase of the subject, the question of methods and tackle, 
has not been so completely treated. For this reason it 
would seem well to confine the present discussion prin- 
cipally to the wa5^s and means of fishing for the masca- 
longe and its lesser relatives in preference to rehearsing 
again the already thoroughly detailed nature and life 
histories of the game fishes mentioned. 

For either mascalonge, pike, or pickerel — it seems a 
little improper to thus class the pickerel, or, for that 
matter, the pike, with the mascalonge, but the fact 
remains that they are ^'birds'' of the same feather — 
still-fishing is little done by those who understand the 
game. It is far better to fish exclusively by casting or 
trolling. The boat, when trolling, should be worked 
so that the bait, either artificial or natural, plaj^s along 
from three to six or eight feet outside the line of weeds 
or rushes, and It Is not necessary that the spoon or 
minnow be fished at any considerable depth ; surface or 
near-surface fishing is the rule with any of these fish as 
they will all rise freely on seeing the bait. 

When casting, the boat should travel parallel with 
the margin of the weed beds, from forty to eighty feet 
away — It depends somewhat upon the skill of the caster 
and the method of casting — and the bait should be cast 
in so as to fall at the proper distance from the weeds, 
taking pains not to cast so far in as to become fouled 
in the weeds or so far away from them as to render it 



NAMAYCUSH AND OTHERS 109 

problematical whether the fish will see the bait. In 
either case as soon as a fish is hooked the boatman should 
make it a point to keep the boat in deep water; the fish 
should alwa3^s be played away from the weeds. 

Mascalonge weighing over twenty pounds have been 
taken on five-ounce split-cane bass-casting rods, using a 
small caliber bait-casting line and a light quadruple 
multiplying reel with a small sized single-hook casting 
spoon for the lure. On the other hand mascalonge 
anglers, as a rule, do not belong to the light-tackle brig- 
ade; hand-lines or heavy steel rods equipped with line, 
reel, and spoon correspondingly large and weighty seem 
to be the rule. The average angler, possessing average 
skill in tackle-handling and an average sense of the due 
proportions of things, together with a modicum of in- 
sight as to the difference between angling and pot-fish- 
ing, will do well to strike a happy medium. 

For either casting or trolling for mascalonge a good 
grade split-bamboo rod, from seven to eight feet three 
Inches in length, weighing from eight to nine ounces, 
will answer the purpose, alwaj's provided it is handled 
with the necessary dexterity. The rod should be 
equipped with trumpet guides of German silver, or steel 
wire guides, using preferably agates for the hand- and 
tip-guides; the reel-seat, having one of the numerous 
forms of locking attachments, must be above the hand- 
grasp. 

For trolling, a double-multiplying reel should be used 
as it has more winding-in power than a quadruple mul- 
tiplier, but for casting a four-multiplier is, of course, 
Imperative. The trolling line may well be water- 



no THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

proofed, but for casting an undressed line must be used, 
size E or F for mascalonge and large pike, size G for 
pickerel. For pickerel the rods, reels, and lines used 
for bass bait-casting and trolling are right. 

Baits of exceedingly various sorts are used for masca- 
longe and pike, minnows natural and artificial, frogs, 
spoons, and spinners, and some of the floating baits for 
bass, the last made larger and stronger for mascalonge 
fishing, but the most effective are a large natural min- 
now or a common trolling spoon size four or five. A 
steel wire leader should always be used. Gimp leaders 
rot inside and will smash without warning visible to 
the angler. In case a spinning bait is used, such as the 
Archer spinner with minnow, frog, or pork-rind, use a 
swivel gang composed of six or eight medium sized 
bronze barrel swivels, or a trolling ''keel" or "coin" 
sinker, the last being a round, flat sinker the size and 
shape of a five-cent piece which, when bent on the line, 
forms a keel that effectually prevents the line from 
twisting and kinking. Another device to prevent line- 
kinking is known as the "Pilot" ; this may be used also 
to cause the bait to run at will on the surface or con- 
siderably submerged. 

As both mascalonge and pike are very large fish it 
is necessary to use a ga.fi in landing them. If the 
writer is not greatly mistaken he has more than once 
seen the common pickerel, fairly large as these fish run 
on the average, leap on a practically slack line, although 
tactics of this sort are not ordinarily ascribed to this 
fish. It is fairly well known that the mascalonge is a 
"jumper from Jumperville." Sportsmen are apt to dis- 



NAMAYCUSH AND OTHERS m 

agree as to the proper rod move to make when a game 
fish takes the air. The preponderance of experience 
and advice suggests the advisability of slightly low^ering 
the rod tip. Usually, unless the angler is very cool and 
also a rapid thinker with a very swift reaction from 
brain to hand, the fish, salmon, black bass, or musky as 
the case may be, is back in the water before the angler 
makes any counter play at all. However, it is always 
best to ease a leaping fish back into the water by 
slightly lowering the tip. When a fish leaps far away 
from the boat, lowering the tip is perfectly useless as 
there is ahvays a long belly in the line and the move- 
ment of the rod does not carry through. 

Anglers often find it difficult correctly to differen- 
tiate a large pike from a mascalonge (in some cases, 
possibly, because the wish is father to the thought), or, 
say, an unusually large pickerel from a pike. The 
following key, quoted from Dr. James A. Henshall, 
will afford the means of rightly identifying and dis- 
tinguishing the most fished-for members of the pi^e 
family. 

''The mascalonge has the upper part of both the 
cheeks and gill-covers scaly, while the lower half of 
both cheeks and gill-covers is naked ; it has from seven- 
teen to nineteen branchiostegal rays (the branchiostegals 
are the rays on the under side of the gill-cover, that, like 
the ribs of an umbrella, assist in opening and closing 
it during breathing). Its coloration is of a uniform 
grayish hue, or when marked with spots or bars they 
are always of a much darker color or shade than the 
ground color. 



112 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

"The pike has the cheeks entirely scaly, but only the 
upper part of the gill-cover, the lower half being naked ; 
it has from fourteen to sixteen branchiostegal rays; its 
coloration is a bluish or greenish gray, with elon- 
gated or bean-shaped spots covering the sides, which 
are always of a lighter hue than the ground color. 

"The Eastern or reticulated pickerel has both the 
cheeks and gill-covers entirely covered with scales; it 
has from fourteen to sixteen branchiostegal rays; its 
coloration is shades of green, with sides of golden lus- 
ter, and marked with dark reticulations, mostly hori- 
zontal. It is rarely or never found west of the Alle- 
ghanies." 

The Ouananiche and Land-locked Salmon 

The Atlantic salmon, Sal mo salar, has two land- 
locked relatives, the "land-locked salmon" proper, 
Salmo sehago, and the ouananiche, Sahno ouananiche. 
Many experienced anglers believe that there is no 
essential difference between the Sebago salmon and the 
ouananiche, or between these two and the sea salmon. 
However this may be — and the authorities, Jordan and 
Evermann, who some years ago thus classified them 
("for the present") have not as yet published a con- 
trary opinion — it is not of extreme importance to the 
angler; the fact remains that both the land-locked sal- 
mon and the ouananiche are, as game fishes, in the very 
first flight. 

The land-locked salmon is found in many of the 
lakes of Maine and by fish cultural operations its 
range is constantly increasing. It was originally de- 



NAMAYCUSH AND OTHERS 113 

scribed from Sebago Lake. Fly-fishing for land-locked 
salmon may be had at Grand Lake Stream in Maine, 
and, for the ouananiche, at the Grand Decharge of the 
Saguenay River which flows from Lake St. John, Pro- 
vince of Quebec, Canada. In Grand Lake, other 
Maine lakes, and in Lake St. John the fishing is chiefly 
done by trolling. 

For either fly-casting or trolling for land-locks and 
ouananiche heavy trout tackle is suitable, although 
where the fish run large a grilse rod may be used. 
Land-locked salmon taken by trolling in lakes weigh 
from eight to twenty pounds. Those taken by fly-fish- 
ing in streams, as in Grand Lake Stream and at the 
Grand Decharge, average two pounds and seldom range 
over five. Small sized salmon flies are generally used. 
Latterly, at Grand Lake Stream, dry-fly fishing for 
land-locks has been tried successfully when the wet- 
fly fishing with the larger flies has been below par. 

The following narrative of the capture of a land- 
locked salmon on fly-tackle at Grand Lake (by the 
present writer considered the very best *'fish story" he 
has ever had the pleasure of reading — for which reason 
the somewhat lengthy quotation is, perhaps, pardon- 
able), written by Mr. Henry Wysham Lanier and 
published in The Outing Magazine, July, 1903, under 
the title of ''The Gamest Fish That Swims," will 
afford the best possible idea of the character of the 
land-locked salmon, when taken in running water, or 
of the ouananiche, and of the tackle and methods em- 
ployed. The reader particularly interested in the land- 
locked salmon and the ouananiche, should not fail to 



114 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

read the entire article of which only a small part Is here 
quoted. 

" 'Now, den, just give two, tree cast in de cunal 
first,' said Peter the Dane. 

"It was half-past five of a June morning — June by 
the calendar, early April by the cold blast that swept 
down out of the north across the lake. Peter had put 
together the stiff five-and-a-half ounce bamboo, care- 
fully soaked out a six-foot single leader, and rigged up 
a cast of a Jock Scott and a professor on number five 
Sproat hooks. On the reel were seventy-five yards of 
waterproof silk line, size E, as the rod had plenty of 
backbone and casting In such a wind needed all the 
helps possible. 

''I stepped up to the canal, a thirty-foot runway 
from the lake which once fed the abandoned saw-mill, 
and cast down the gently eddying stream. When I had 
gotten out thirty or forty feet of line, working the flies 
lightly across the surface as they swung with the cur- 
rent, Peter grunted approval. 

" 'I gass you do ahl right. We go out In de cunoe.* 

"I may not have mentioned the fact that Peter Is a 
guide of unusual Intelligence; his knowledge of lures 
and of the baffling habits of the Sahnonidae Is unex- 
celled ; nor Is his horizon, by any means, bounded by 
fish. We stepped simultaneously Into the canoe and 
into an atmosphere of good fellowship. 

"A few strokes of the paddle sent us out to the line 
of triangular log cribs marking the hundred-yard limit 
above the dam, within which only fly-fishing Is per- 
mitted ; and, tying up to a buoy in eight or ten feet 



NAMAYCUSH AND OTHERS 115 

of water, we swung around with the wind to a north 
and south position not more than fifty yards from the 
tumbledown dock that lined the shore along the head 
of the canal. 

"The lately risen sun shone brightly, except when 
a mass of gray-white clouds drove across it; the waves 
tossed the little cedar canoe airily up and down; on 
the rising shore the fresh green of the white-stemmed 
birches stood out sharply against the dark spruce trees, 
the feathery blue-green of the pines, and the rusty 
yellow-green of the young cedars and alders. A wild 
duck and her fluffy brood paddled about furtively be- 
neath the bushes fringing the shore two hundred yards 
away; in the cleared spaces on the bank sleek robins, 
with aldermanic vests of red and Inquisitive yellow 
beaks, hopped about among the buttercups and daisies 
and wild roses ; while a song-sparrow poured out a full- 
throated trill from a neighboring fence-post. 

"It must be confessed, however, that these beauties 
of nature, the Indian's shack cresting the bare hill, the 
group of little, unpainted dwelling houses, and the 
dozen forlorn, uniform, empty gray cabins where once 
lived the workers In the deserted tannery — even the 
sky-plercing brick chimney itself, such a strange sight 
in the deep woods — made but a vague Impression upon 
my senses. For when Piscator has been casting flies In 
Imagination only, for eleven months from a revolving 
office chair, he Is not to be diverted by such trifles from 
his first lust of fish. 

"I began to cast out toward the shore, tip well down 
to the water each time on account of the wind. After 



ii6 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

covering the leeward semi-circle fifteen or twenty times, 
my inexperience fancied that region tested of salmon; 
no trout or bass fisherman would have bothered with it 
longer ; but since Peter made no sign I kept on casting. 
When the inevitable slackness of interest had drawn my 
eyes to the two canoes by the outlet, the occupants of 
which were switching away as industriously as my- 
self, something happened — and heart came into mouth 
with a leap; for as the flies jiggled in over the tossing 
water there was a boil and swirl by the dropper, not 
twenty-five feet away, and a simultaneous exclamation 
from behind: 'Don't leave it; cast again. Dat excite 
him when de fly come again.' 

"Shortening the cast, I sent the flies hastily and 
awkwardly ten feet beyond the danger signal. Hardly 
had they begun to come in when there was a sudden 
commotion ; an instinctive 'strike' met a line taut and 
suddenly endowed with life; and the little rod bowed 
its acknowledgments at the meeting. 

"First came a mad rush to one side, and after giving 
the mysterious visitor all the line that had been stripped 
with the left hand, I snubbed him, in order to have a 
feel of him. The result was immediate and surprising. 
Three feet into the air came a twenty-inch bow of sil- 
ver, flashing in the morning sun as the salmon tried to 
shake himself free. Down went the tip, but, with the 
training of the black bass fisherman, I tried to cant 
him to one side and upset him before he could shake 
himself. 

"'Don't do dat!' called watchful Peter. *De sal- 
mon mout' is tender. You can't treat him lak black 



NAMAYCUSH AND OTHERS 117 

bass. Drop de tip straight toward him and den tighten 
up de instant he touch de water.' 

"As he spoke, out came his royal highness again, and 
the rod dropped to greet him, for that spring and lash- 
ing out against a taut line must mean either a lost fish 
or a broken tip. 

" 'A good fish,' said Peter the Dane. 'T'ree pound 
strong.' 

''And indeed it was the strongest three pounds the 
little rod had ever tried conclusions with. Hardly 
had he touched the water and the pressure been resumed 
when he was into the air once more, so far away that 
the eye almost refused to believe it the same fish. 
When he reached the surface this time he danced ten 
feet away on his tail, disappeared with a swoop that 
set the reel to singing a valkyr's shriek, and was out 
twice more in rapid succession, somersaulting till the 
air seemed full of salmon. 

"These acrobatic displays and the continued strain 
of the sturdy bamboo were taking the edge off his fierce- 
ness. A dozen feet of the line came onto the reel before 
he fairly realized any compulsion. 'What, done al- 
ready?' But at that instant the reel handle began to 
revolve the other way and no other answer was needed. 
Around the canoe he dashed, the line cutting through 
the water with that swish so dear to the heart of the 
angler. A little snubbing brought him up for the fifth 
leap, and then followed darts and rushes in every direc- 
tion, and savage tugs and shakes and borings down- 
ward, and circus-like gallops round and round, while 



ii8 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

his burnished sides sent up old gold flashes through the 
clear but dark-colored water. 

" 'Keep de butt down,' cautioned mj^ mentor. 'Don't 
never give him straight rod excep' when he jump, and 
den put strain on him again right off,' and Peter 
leaned toward me, almost whispering In his anxiety. 

"There had been considerable strain on him already, 
judging from the feel of my wrist, but I let him have 
the full curve, and in a few minutes more this began to 
take effect. Slowly reeling In and fighting for every 
yard, the fish was brought within ten feet of the canoe ; 
then the sight of us and the net started him off again, 
and It was all to do over. Gradually he was forced 
toward us, swinging In and out time after time, till at 
last he lay for a breathless instant within three feet of 
the gunwale, getting up courage for another spurt. 
With a dexterous sweep, Peter brought the landing net 
up behind — and his salmonship's next wild struggles 
were against its meshes in the bottom of the canoe. 

"It was a beautiful creature that threw Itself fran- 
tically about, flopping from side to side, bending double 
and lashing out with surprising strength, and springing 
violently Into the air, net and all. About twenty inches 
long, stocky and well-rounded, but perfectly propor- 
tioned, with savage head and jaws, he seemed built for 
doughty deeds and the strenuous life. His back was a 
rich velvety green, lustrous from the glistening water 
and covered with half-concealed black spots. This 
color gradually shaded Into a lighter tint, merging at 
the median line Into a silvery coat that gleamed rose- 
ate and Iridescent in the sunlight." 



CHAPTER VII 

FINE AND FAR-OFF FISHING AND OTHER 
MATTERS 

FISHING "fine and far-off" is a phrase rather 
over-worked in the literature of fly-casting and, 
moreover, one v^hich w^e somev^hat rarely see 
put into actual practice on stream or lake. The rarity 
of really fine and far-off fishing— the words being ap- 
plicable only to fly-fishing, and more especially to the 
act of casting the fly— is easily explained. Far casting 
demands the best of skill and tackle, and fine fishing, 
in addition to the requirements of light leaders and 
small flies, calls for extreme accuracy and delicacy in 
laying down leader and flies far-off on the water. To 
attain to fine and far casting and fly-fishing the angler 
must have the best of rods, a line entirely suited to 
being cast by that rod, leader and fly-snells working 
well together and both in keeping with the line in use ; 
also there is requisite the skill in casting resulting from 
long practice and, it must be admitted, natural ability 
in that direction. Expert fly-casting is natural to some 
men just as skilful wing-shooting is to others. So we 
do not see very much fishing fine and far-off. 

119 



I20 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

The everyday fly-fisherman contents himself with 
short-distance casting and does not sufficiently refine 
his tackle to make far-casting possible, even if his wrist 
were equal to the occasion. And quite often the man 
who owns the finest and most expensive rods, rods 
made with the utmost manual skill for the express 
purpose of better-than-average fly-casting, fishes with 
bait. It is not often that we find an angler whose 
tackle, skill, stream knowledge, and experience are 
adequate to the sort of casting and fishing under dis- 
cussion. And yet at some time on every trout stream, 
and on some streams at all times, fine and far-casting 
are imperative for success; and it would seem that no 
enthusiastic fly-caster should rest satisfied with his 
tackle and methods until both have been brought to 
the point where long and delicate casting is within his 
power. With a view to italicizing the fact that skilled 
rod handling and discriminating tackle selection have 
their sure reward, certain times and places are noted 
in the following paragraphs where and when casting 
fine and far-off is either advantageous or imperative. 

Generally speaking, the time when a long line and 
delicate leader and flies are most in demand is in the 
late spring and summer; not always, of course, even at 
this time, because the stream is frequently replenished 
by rains. But when very low and crystal clear water 
prevails, when a gut leader of average caliber looks on 
the surface of the water or beneath it like the Atlantic 
cable, and when the brook trout, poised in the shallow 
riffles, seem to see the angler for half a mile, then the 
man who can compass reasonable, not tournament, long- 



FINE AND FAR-OFF FISHING 121 

distance casts, and who understands and appreciates the 
killing qualities of the ephemeral leader and the almost 
infinitesimal fly is in his element. And who would 
deny that one trout taken under such conditions, by vir- 
tue of skilled casting and fine tackle, is worth vastly 
more than a dozen taken by chuck-and-chance-it short- 
line casting under easier circumstances? 

It should, however, be said that the long cast, under 
dry weather conditions. If the angler will keep himself 
out of sight. Is not so Important as the use of small 
flies and fine leaders. A friend of the writer's is a very 
successful low-water fisherman, and yet I do not think 
that he ever put out over forty feet of line In his life; 
but when the stage of the water and the shyness of the 
trout require It he invariably uses midge flies and the 
finest of fine leaders, In the emploj'ment of which he 
Is passing skilful — and keeps out of sight. I have seen 
this angler fish through a meadow where no brush 
screened the brook, behind two other fly-casters, and 
come out with several good fish when the two men 
who preceded him took nothing. Progress for the most 
part on *'hands and knees," a fine and long leader, and 
midge flies did the trick; and, by the way, something 
besides pile-driver methods are necessary If you would 
rise, strike, and land a good trout on a midge. Fre- 
quently, however, keeping out of sight is impossible, or 
a matter of too much difficulty, and then long casting 
Is the only thing. 

In summer, during the day, pool fishing Is very apt 
to be productive. Then the trout haunt the deep, dark 
pools, well shaded, or the reaches of equally peaceful 



122 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

and shady still-waters. To fish such a place with suc- 
cess demands every bit of skill even the 

bummer veteran fly-caster can command ; to the 
^'beginner such places are sloughs of 
despond rather than likely trout pools. On still days 
the surface of the pool, unruffled by any breeze, is so 
smooth and quiet that the disturbance of a natural 
insect falling upon it is very appreciable ; when the am- 
bitious but unskilled fly-caster drops his cast of flies 
thereon the result is simply a tidal wave. 

It is small wonder that the average angler passes up 
the quiet pools and still-waters as unproductive — they 
are so except to the man who through years of stream 
experience and by virtue of superior casting and tackle 
can really fish fine and far-off. For such a man the 
pools and still-waters hold prizes well worth the utmost 
exercise of his skill, for of all stream localities it is well 
known that the deep pool and the dark still-water are 
most apt to shelter Leviathan. Small flies, light lead- 
ers, and long, light casting are the requisites for summer 
pool fishing. There is one thing more: Keep out of 
sight. Pool fishing in general and the use of dry-flies in 
connection therewith have been discussed elsewhere. 

Apart from summer fly-fishing, under dry weather 

conditions, several other situations will occur to the 

experienced angler as calling for a long 

Fishmg the ^[^^ ^^d accurate and delicate handling. 

Swift Pool. ^ . ^ ^ 1 ru- 

I o revert tor a moment to pool hshmg. 

It may be said that a large pool, in the average rocky 
and forest-margined trout stream, at all times requires 
far-casting if you would get the most out of it — mean- 



FINE AND FAR-OFF FISHING 123 

ing possibly a three-pounder. Starting to cast with 
two things in mind, that many times the pool is best 
fished up-stream and that, other things being equal, a 
short line is always safest, the angler will cover all 
available water with a moderate length of line, and 
then, picking out some vantage-point where the back 
cast may be made with the greatest assurance that It 
will not hang-up, he will whip the far-off places where 
his stream experience hints that a trout may be lying. 

The angler of limited casting ability is distinctly 
handicapped when it comes to fishing a large pool. 
Furthermore it is a fact that the ability to get out a 
long line, although with entire lack of delicacy, and 
though the flies hit the water as if shot from a rifle. Is 
far better than not to be able to handle anything but a 
short line; for, many times, the character of the pool 
will be such that distance and fair accuracy are the only 
requisites. In a pool of broken, swirling w^ater, foam- 
covered and swift, it makes little difference whether 
the flies come down lightly or not. When fishing this 
sort of water the submerged fly is the proper thing, 
and the situation demands only the ability, by strong- 
arm methods or in any other way, to get out the line 
far enough. 

Fly-fishing for trout is usually and properly asso- 
ciated with swift and rocky streams. We are told by 
the scientists that the nature of the brook 

Fishing trout requires highly aerated water such 

c,^ ^^ as the typical trout stream with its al- 

StreamS. . -m -■, 1 r n rr ^ 

ternatmg riffles, rapids, and falls artords. 
But the experienced fly-caster can doubtless remember 



124 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

the time when his flies were cast over the waters of some 
sluggish, dark-bottomed stream, almost currentless, and 
cast, possibly, with success. It is a fact that trout 
streams of this sort are quite common, and usually the 
trout therein are uncommonly large, although they may 
not be very numerous. Such streams are many times 
found in swamps or running through cleared fields 
adjacent to swampy lowlands. Here again fine and 
far casting is at a premium. 

Usually such streams are suited to fly-casting only 
where they run through clearings and meadow lands, 
where the banks afford no ambush and the surface of 
the water is smooth and quiet. It is necessary to stand 
well away from the bank and swing a long line to reach 
the best of the water without alarming the fish, and the 
flies and leader must fall "straight" and without the 
suspicion of a splash. Over water of this sort the 
retrieve should be made slowly, even, at times, allow- 
ing the flies to become wholly submerged ; otherwise 
there is too much fuss made on the water in bringing 
in the fly. 

Casting from a canoe or boat over the quiet waters 
of a lake is another situation calling for expert hand- 
ling of rod and line. Except on extra- 
CastingfromQj.jjj^ occasions the angler who, 

a Canoe. . , . j . , i . 

withm reason and without negiectmg 

good water more easily fished, can cast farthest from 
the boat will be most successful. Here, as in all long- 
distance casting, the thing to remember is not to carry 
the rod too far backward on the back cast. The rod, 
as before noted, should not go back much beyond the 



FINE AND FAR-OFF FISHING 125 

perpendicular; the thing to aim for is a high back cast. 

Successful fly-casting fine and far-off requires, how- 
ever, something more than the ability to get out a long 
line and lay it down straight and softly. 

Striking n^^Q angler must be able to strike his 
J . ^ trout without over-many misses and 

also to play him, both at the end of a 
long line. Consistently successful striking at long dis- 
tances is, in addition to the usual requirements of quick 
eye and snappy wrist, purely dependent upon a taut 
line. An actually taut line, however, is not possible 
when distance casting; more or less sag is bound to 
occur in proportion to the rate at which the line is 
stripped in and the backward motion of the rod. Strik- 
ing, when a long line is out, should therefore be done 
with more force, quicker than when using a short line. 
The backward motion of the rod must first take up 
the slack line before sufficient draw is imparted to the 
hook to set it firmly. 

Fly-fishing fine and far-off is a pretty difficult game 
to play successfully — a game of skill purely and one, 
moreover, at w^hich every fly-fisherman should strive to 
become expert — in spite of the fact that in this respect 
the expression ''many are called but few are chosen" 
holds true as well as in any other branch of sport in 
which the highest form of skill and greatest amount of 
experience are required. 



126 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

Fly- and Bait-casting for Accuracy, Delicacy, 
and Distance 

These are terms which, while very familiar to tour- 
nament fly- and bait-casters, are seldom heard among 
anglers In general. However this may be, with the 
possible exception of distance — and that this at times 
is also very necessary has been pointed out — the success 
of the bait- or fly-caster in actual fishing Is greatly de- 
pendent upon the degree of skill to which he has at- 
tained In regard to these three casting requisites. 

The fisherman who can only approximately reach 
the spot where he desires to place a bait, or who so 
handles a cast of flies that they drop two 
^' or three feet away from the point aimed 
for is distinctly handicapped. In both black bass and 
trout fishing absolute accuracy, that Is, accuracy as 
far as It may reasonably be attained, Is a necessity for 
the very simple reason that both bass and trout are so 
constituted that very frequently they will only strike 
a fly or bait when It is presented to them In a certain 
way and In a certain spot. The angler for large- 
mouthed bass, when fishing along a patch of water 
weeds or rushes, has ample opportunity to verify this 
statement. He finds that If the bait drops too far away 
from the rushes or too close to them the bass will not 
rise. For success the bait must be cast so as to strike 
the water at a certain distance from the weeds, and 
the allowance for deviation is very slight. 

Frequently when bass fishing you will see a bass jump 
within casting distance from the canoe. Then, If you 



FINE AND FAR-OFF FISHING 127 

can immediately drop your bait plump in the middle 
of the widening circle of ripples, the bass is generally 
yours. But if your bait strikes only somewhere near 
the place the chances are that the fish will stay in the 
water. Also it is often necessary when the bass are 
lying in the weeds to cast the bait into the small open- 
ings of clear water that are found here and there. This, 
of course, is when the weeds have grown so as to reach 
the surface of the water, a condition which prevails 
very generally during the summer. However, since 
under these conditions it is most often necessary for 
safety in landing the fish to use a rather short line, 
accuracy in this particular instance is not difficult. 

In fly-fishing for trout accuracy is even more imper- 
ative than in bait-casting. Time and time again the 
writer has experimented in regard to this. It is an 
absolute fact that at times a trout will not rise if the 
fly varies only a matter of a very few inches from where 
he wants it. The fish will rise when the fly reaches a 
certain spot; if it varies almost infinitesimally — say 
three inches — the fish will stay down. But it is not 
only in this regard that accuracy in casting is desirable. 
The banks of most of our best trout streams are more 
or less, generally more, wooded and brush-grown and 
overhanging branches must continually be taken into 
consideration. The man who lacks accurate control 
over his line both in the forward and back casts is 
always in hot water, although he may be fishing "the 
icy waters of a mountain trout brook." 

Delicacy in bait-casting is a thing attained only with 
much practice. An artificial minnow or spoon, with 



128 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

from seventy-five to a hundred feet of line out, is bound 
to hit the water with considerable force. 
'^' Strange as it may seem, this as a rule 
does not alarm the fish. But in fishing very shal- 
low water along-shore, or in reedy river coves where 
the water is not deep, care must be taken in this par- 
ticular. If you succeed in starting the minnow toward 
the rod just before or at the instant it strikes the water, 
reasonable delicacy results. A great many bait-casters 
are careless in this regard with the natural consequence 
that their success is not phenomenal. If, at the end of 
the cast, the bait lies for an instant motionless and dead 
on the water, a bass whose interest has been aroused 
to the point of striking will usually change his mind. I 
have, however, several times seen bass strike a bait 
floating "dead" on the surface while the angler was 
arguing with his reel the question whether a backlash 
is merely a misfortune or an actual calamity. This, of 
course, is very exceptional ; the motion of the lure is the 
factor that brings the strikes. 

In fly-casting, delicacy to a certain degree is not 
difficult of attainment. Beyond that certain degree, 
with which no fly-caster should be satisfied, it is a mat- 
ter of no little difficulty and requires years of stream 
experience and practice. When fishing the clear, shal- 
low riflrles of small streams the flies must drop on the 
water with the lightness of the proverbial thistle-down. 
If you fail in this you will see the trout in that vicinity 
disappear with uniform celerity. It is when casting a 
long line that the veteran fly-caster, by the ease with 
which he causes the flies to alight straight, delicately. 



FINE AND FAR-OFF FISHING 129 

and far-off, shows his title to the degree of Master of 
Angling. An equal degree of skill should be the goal 
of every fly-caster. 

A rising motion of the rod just before the flies are 
about to alight will cause them to land quietly. This 
motion of the rod, however, must not be sudden or 
jerky, but must be graduated with nicety; otherwise the 
process simply results in ''snapping the whip" and the 
flies will strike the water with even more than ordinary 
force. Another factor in casting for delicacy is to aim 
not at the exact spot on the water where the flies should 
alight but at a point in the air four or five feet above 
the spot. This will cause leader and flies to straighten 
out in the air, lose in a measure the propulsive force of 
the cast, and fall with all necessary delicacy. 

Distance in both fly- and bait-casting, although at 

times very necessary, is generally of less importance 

than accuracy and delicacy. It is an 

111 C^3 Tl f^ f^ 

angling axiom that the more line you 
have out the better are your chances for failing to hook 
a rising fish, or, if the fish is struck, of eventually losing 
him. It Is always advisable to use the shortest line 
permissible under the circumstances. By so doing ac- 
curacy and delicacy are more easily and surely attained, 
you have more control over the strike, and instant con- 
trol over a fish w^hen struck. 

The chief advantage of distance comes when, owing 
to the natural conformation of the pond or stream, or 
to the extreme shyness of the fish, lengthening out Is 
rendered imperative. The practice of distance casting 
Is, however, of distinct advantage, for the reason that 



I30 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

the man who can skilfully handle a long line can still 
more skilfully handle a short one. The angler should, 
nevertheless, never allovvr the obsession of distance to 
get the better of him. Unless you have a very natural 
aptitude, gaining distance Is rather a slow process. It 
is much better to confine yourself to the correct hand- 
ling of moderate casts and let distance take care of 
itself. In due time a fairly long line comes automatic- 
ally. 

How to Improve the Fly-rod 

Satisfactory fly-casting under any conditions exacts 
the finest possible adjustment of tackle in every way; 
but, chiefly, the rod must be a good one and its furni- 
ture capable of giving the results which the caster 
desires. If your casting to-date is not as good as it 
should be it is quite possible that the rod is at fault. 
It might be suggested that before you make up your 
mind that you are a born duffer at the game you first 
make sure that the tools you have been using are suited 
to it. A good fly-rod need not be expensive, while, at 
the same time, it cannot be cheap. Granted that the 
material is of fairly good quality, it may be said that 
effective .casting depends greatly upon the style of 
guides, the balance, the method of winding, etc., things 
which to a certain extent may be regulated at will 
without going to the expense of a new rod. Buying a 
fly-rod Is always a pleasure but sometimes, unfortu- 
nately, the state of the money market Is prohibitive. 

If originally the rod was a good one as regards 
material, of carefully selected and assembled cane if the 



FINE AND FAR-OFF FISHING 131 

rod is a split-bamboo, or of well-seasoned bethabara, 
lancewood, or greenheart if a solid-wood, almost any old 
rod may be made pretty nearly as good as new — in many 
cases much better than new — by its owner, who, more- 
over, need not be a mechanical genius or the proprietor 
of a machine shop. Ingenuity, elbow-grease, a few 
simple tools, and chiefly a knowledge of what consti- 
tutes a good fly-rod are practically the only essentials. 
Furthermore, if you have not the time or do not care 
to do these things yourself it will be of advantage to 
5^ou to be able to tell the professional rod maker exactly 
the things you wish done. 

Often a rod will show a quality of whippiness which 
was not suspected when the rod was purchased. Pro- 
vided you are not an advocate of the 
"6 W ^PPy whippy rod — there are such and they are 
more to be pitied than censured — with 
the knowledge that you have on your hands an unsatis- 
factory tool comes the realization of the necessity of a 
new rod or a radical improvement in the present one. 
The extent of the change necessary is dependent upon 
the degree of softness with which the rod is afflicted. 
The rod repairer in this particular instance, if the 
rod is only slightly whippy, will remove all the wind- 
ings and replace them at closer intervals; or, possibly, 
the addition of new windings between those already on 
the rod will do just as well. The average fly-rod is 
wound at intervals of slightly over an inch. Windings 
at only one-half inch will stiffen the rod appreciably. 
If, however, in the opinion of the repairer, the extreme 
softness of the rod demands more radical treatment 



132 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

resort may be had to amputation. In the case of the 
average fly-rod, consisting of three joints and from nine 
to ten feet long, at least one inch should be removed 
from each joint; to further insure successful results it 
might be well to put on additional windings. The re- 
sulting difference In the action of the rod Is very great, 
while the loss of weight Is so slight as to be negligible. 

In this connection It should be added that winding 
the rod entirely from end to end, called solid winding, 
should not be done. At first glance, considering the 
fact that additional windings stiffen the rod, one would 
naturally conclude that the solid wound rod is a very 
stiff one. This Is not the case, however. Solid wound 
rods tend to be soft rather than otherwise and the 
method is not approved or followed by the best rod 
makers. 

The angler whose ambition lies along the line of 
distance casting will find that he can easily lengthen out 
his average casting by replacing the ring- 
er .^ and-keeper guides with which his rod Is 
Guides. ^,.11 1 J 
ntted with the now more popular and 

far more efficient English snake guides. The old- 
fashioned ring-and-keeper guides are not very well 
adapted to shooting the line, the loosely working ring 
and its generally small aperture causing too much fric- 
tion. The snake guide, as in the case of much fly-tackle, 
Is an English Idea. Their stability and line shooting 
adaptability are far In advance of the ring guides, and, 
moreover, the snake guides measurably facilitate strlng- 
Ing-up the rod and are less liable to become bent out 
of shape. Of the snake guides those of steel are best. 



FINE AND FAR-OFF FISHING 133 

German silver is also a good material but inferior to 
steel for the reason that it is softer and the line soon 
wears grooves in the guides. If you wish to go a bit 
farther, with the idea of having the rod thoroughly 
modern and efficient in the matter of guides, fit it with 
offset agate tip guide and raised agate hand guide. 
Then if you do not do good casting, you certainly can- 
not, provided the rod itself is fairly good, "blame the 
gun." 

If the rod is heavy in hand, it may be made a sweeter 
rod to handle by removing the solid metal reel-seat in 
favor of plain reel-bands; if the hand- 
Butt and grasp is of wood or celluloid a further 
r> J reduction in weight may be effected by 

fitting a solid cork grasp. On general 
principles any rod which has a handgrasp of cork sheath- 
ing over a shaped core of wood may be made a much 
better rod by the substitution of a solid cork grasp in 
place of the cheaper and far less durable and desirable 
grasp of thin cork over wood. The solid cork grasp is 
made of a number of disks of solid cork fitted over a 
core. 

On the other hand, the top-heavy rod may be made 
to balance much better by simply using on it a heavier 
reel. The slightly top-heavy rod is not objectionable 
to a good many anglers, and often a rod of this sort is 
a very strong caster. The famous Castle Connell sal- 
mon rods are made on this principle. Such a rod is, 
however, apt to be tiring in long continued casting, and 
the average angler prefers a well balanced rod just as 
a rifleman desires this quality in his weapon. 



134 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

If the rod is too stiff there is only one thing to do 
unless you are an expert rod maker, and barring a trip 
to the professional rod repairer, and that 
^ is: Use a heavy line. The chances are 

that if the rod does not weigh over five 
ounces a level line, size E, will bring out all the action 
desirable, while a line of size F or G may fail entirely 
to do so. The suitability of the line to the rod upon 
which it is used is a matter which many anglers do not 
sufficiently consider. To state the extreme, the fly-cas- 
ter who uses on a three-and-a-half-ounce fly-rod a line 
of size E and the caster who uses on a ten-foot seven- 
ounce rod a line of size G will find that good casting 
with such ill-assorted tackle is impossible. 

A heavy line is too burdensome for the featherweight 
fly-rod ; in fact, if the angler is inclined to be heavy- 
handed, it is quite possible for him to smash the rod by 
attempting to use a too heavy line upon it. Similarly, 
a fairly long cast, using a very light line on a compara- 
tively heavy rod, is not possible; the line must have 
sufficient weight to carry it through the air in response 
to force of the cast. But in the case of a very stiff rod, 
the weight of a heavy line will produce much more snap 
and bend in the rod, and although the combination 
makes the work rather strenuous, still it is very efficient. 
It is hardly necessary to state that such an outfit would, 
however, be very poorly adapted to small stream work. 

The repair of smashed rods does not properly come 
under the subject we are discussing — it is fairly obvious 
that any smashed rod, when repaired, is considerably 
improved — but the best way to cure a rod that has ac- 



FINE AND FAR-OFF FISHING 135 

quired a more or less decided "set" may properly be 
noted. The set may be the result of 
The Way strain or warp, the first due to over- 
ly, J burdening the rod in some way and the 
a Fly-rod. , ^ • 1 • u • u 

last to poor material — m which case a 

permanent cure can hardly be effected — or to negli- 
gence. This is a case where an ounce of prevention is 
sometimes worth six ounces of good fly-rod, and before 
noting the method of correction it might be well to set 
down a few golden rules about the way not to use a 
fly-rod. 

In the first place since the fly-rod forms our subject — 
although most of these suggestions are equally applicable 
to fishing rods in general — it should be said that the 
split-cane rod is peculiarly, often fatally, susceptible to 
dampness, and that consequently every precaution 
should be taken in this regard. In camp it should be 
taken down and put in the case over-night and cer- 
tainly should never be left lying on the ground for any 
length of time. It is quite possible to put a fine split- 
bamboo fly-rod temporarily or even permanently out of 
commission by allowing it to lie out over-night on the 
ground. Again, to avoid warp, the rod when assembled 
should never be leaned against a support in such a 
manner as to bend it. If left for a sufficient length of 
time, not necessarily a very long time, leaning in this 
way the bend will become permanent. Similarly, when 
the rod is unjointed, the individual joints should not 
be leaned against a support in the manner noted, for 
the same reason. 

The remedy and the method of prevention for warp 



136 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

or set are quite similar. The rod which has acquired 
a set should be hung up by the tip with 
'^r^^ "^^^^jf y a weight attached to the butt, provided 
the set runs through the entire rod; if 
only one joint is affected this should be treated in the 
same manner. By way of prevention when the rod is 
to be unused for a long time, as during the winter 
months, suspending each joint separately, or at least 
the tip and middle joints, is by far the best way of 
storing it. If you have a rod and gun cabinet it is 
exactly suited to the purpose. When the rod is sus- 
pended merely as a matter of precaution it is unneces- 
sary to use a weight. 

The man who makes his own rods certainly derives 
more pleasure from their use than does the angler who 
uses a readj^-made rod — this in spite of the fact that the 
professionally made rod will always be the better one 
unless the amateur maker is very expert indeed. In due 
proportion, there is more sport in handling a rod the 
efficiency of which is partly due to your own tinkering 
than in using one upon which you have no claim for 
improvements. 

Strip-casting for Black Bass 

If you have never learned bait-casting for black bass 
and for any reason do not care to take up that method, 
a very good substitute and a very efficient angling 
method may be found in strip-casting. It may be said 
with truth, also, that at times strip-casting is more ef- 
ficient than casting from the reel, whether or not you 
have mastered the use of the short bait-casting rod and 



FINE AND FAR-OFF FISHING 137 

the quadruple casting reel. Variet)^, too, is the spice of 
angling, and often a change to the fly-rod — which is 
used for strip-casting — is quite welcome after continued 
use of the orthodox short casting rod. 

Strip-casting for bass is adapted to both river and 
lake fishing, and either natural or artificial baits may 
be used. Since the advent of the numerous and gen- 
erally very successful artificial baits as the result of the 
popularity of bait-casting, these are most used. The 
chances are that in order to take up strip-casting you 
will have to buy very little extra tackle — that is, if you 
are a fly-caster. 

The fly-rod is used for strip-casting because, to obtain 
the best results, the reel-seat must be below the hand- 
_ grasp. The rod should not be less than 

ten feet in length — for strip-casting 
purely, a ten-and-a-half-foot rod is none too long, but 
you will probably wish to use a rod which may also 
be utilized for fly-casting. As the cast is made by 
shooting the line through the guides of the rod, these 
should be of a style which will allow free-running of 
the line. 

A fly-rod to be specially used for strip-casting would 
be best rigged in the matter of guides by using fairly 
large caliber German silver trumpet guides with agate 
hand and tip guides. If your fly-rod is fitted with 
"snake" guides, these will answer the purpose. The 
addition of the agate guides is very desirable in either 
case. A bass fly-rod weighing from seven to eight 
ounces is best adapted to strip-casting, but any trout 
fly-rod having sufficient backbone may be used. 



138 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

The reel may be either a single-action or a double- 
multiplier; the quadruple reel may also be used, but for 
certain reasons, such as lack of balance on 
the fly-rod and greater liability of line 
fouling, is not as well adapted to strip-casting as the 
reels mentioned. As a matter of fact the reel is not 
necessarily used to any extent in strip-casting except to 
hold the line. The single-action reel, all things con- 
sidered, is the best. 

There is considerable leeway in the matter of the sort 
of line to use. Strip-casting bears a closer analogy to 
. bait-casting than to fly-casting in that the 

line is caused to shoot out through the 
guides by the swing of the rod and principally by the 
weight of the bait in use. It differs from fly-casting in 
that the weight of the bait, rather than of the line and 
the swing of the rod, is the chief factor in getting out 
the line. It naturally follows that a line having weight 
is not absolutely necessarj" as for fly-casting. 

On the whole the best line to use is a rather small 
caliber enameled fly-casting line, say size G or F. This 
will render freely and smoothly through the rod guides 
and Is much more durable and less liable to foul by 
wrapping around the rod than an unwaterproofed bait- 
casting line. For average bass fishing twenty-five yards 
of good quality size F enameled line used on a one- 
hundred-yard single-action reel will best answer the 
reel and line requirements for strip-casting. 

The method of casting is very simple and yet, to 
acquire expertness and the very best results, no little 
practice and experience are required. Before going on 



FINE AND FAR-OFF FISHING 139 

to speak of the baits to use and the general course of 

action of the strip-caster when on the bass grounds it 

would, perhaps, be best to settle the 

±low to question of how to use rod, reel, and line 

in strip-casting. This method is almost 

exclusively employed when fishing from a boat or canoe 

— seldom while wading, or from the bank of a river or 

the lake shore. 

The reel and line should be rigged on the rod as for 
fly-casting; that is, the reel underneath with the handle 
to the right. A short gut leader may be used if desired 
or one of fine steel or copper if pickerel or pike are 
abundant where your bass fishing is done. Very heavy 
baits, either artificial or natural, should not be used, as 
the work will be too strenuous for the fly-rod unless it 
is a very heavy and stiff one. 

Assemble rod, reel, and line and have about six or 
eight feet of line from the tip of the rod. Now strip 
from the reel several feet of line, allowing the coils to 
lie in the bottom of the boat. Always be careful to lay 
it down so that it will not tangle and foul during the 
cast. A new enameled line which shows a tendency to 
coil tightly should be well straightened by rubbing down 
with deer fat or some other line dressing before at- 
tempting to use it for strip-casting. 

The knack lies largely in educating the left hand to 
manipulate the line correctly. As in the practice of 
many fly-casters, the left hand grasps the line between 
the reel and the first guide and is used to control the 
rendition and retrieve of the line during and after the 
cast. If it is your custom to handle the line thus when 



I40 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

fly-casting, you will not have to learn It; otherwise, 
although a limited proficiency may be quickly acquired, 
it will pay you to practice this phase of strip-casting 
faithfully; its importance is equal to that of thumbing 
the reel in bait-casting. During the cast the outrunning 
line must be subject to exactly the proper control, must 
run out neither too fast or too slow, or the line will 
foul at the first rod guide. 

Having stripped the line from the reel, and controll- 
ing it as above indicated with the left hand, presuming 
that you are casting from right to left, carry the rod to 
your right and slightly to the rear, pointing a little 
downward toward the w^ater, and then swing it smartly 
to the left across the body and slightly upward. When, 
during the swing of the rod, the rod tip points in the 
direction you wish to cast — as a matter of fact, just a 
little before that point — release the hold of the left 
hand on the line sufficiently to allow it to run out 
through the fingers. Do not release it entirely, as this 
will feed the line to the first rod guide faster than it 
will run through and a tangle will result. The cast 
is quite similar to the side cast in bait-casting from the 
reel. 

The cast being completed, that Is, the bait having 
reached the water at the desired point, the line Is re- 
trieved by stripping It In through the guides with the 
left hand, taking pains to lay the coils down evenly on 
the bottom of the boat as In the preliminary stripping 
from the reel. The line should be stripped in at a 
moderate rate of speed, rather faster with artificial 
lures than with natural, In order to impart lifelike 




m,r ^ s ^^^ -"^ilH^'' 



First Aid to Injured Tackle 



FINE AND FAR-OFF FISHING 141 

motion to the bait, and care should be taken to have the 
line and rod always under control, so that immediate 
advantage may be taken of a strike. 

The importance of a taut line should not be over- 
looked. After hooking a bass the fish is, of course, 
played "by hand" rather than from the 
eep a ut ^^^^^ unless an extra long run takes out 
all the free line. This should not be 
considered a disadvantage, for, as a matter of fact, the 
very best and safest way to play a fish is by this method ; 
that is, by controlling the giving and taking of line with 
the left hand independently of the reel. 

Light artificial baits are the best to use, such lures as 
small trolling spoons, fly-spinners, bucktail spoons, etc. ; 
light-weight floating baits and pork rinds 
"T^^^^ on small white enameled spoons are also 
very successful. Fly-spoons made in tan- 
dem style and used in connection with bass flies of 
well-known patterns, scarlet ibis, Parmachene belle, 
Montreal, coachman, Henshall, silver doctor, and 
others, are very pleasant baits to use and, moreover, 
quite acceptable to the bass; with these should go a 
small dipsey sinker. Fly-spoons of this sort are made 
in a great variety of styles and in several degrees of 
desirability; those with piano wire shanks and without 
swivels are the best. 

The most successful methods for the strip-caster to 

adopt when on the bass grounds are very similar to 

those used in bait-casting. Casting from 

^ ° ^* a canoe or boat, the angler should work 

around the lake shore, casting in toward the rushes and 



142 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

lily pads and along the margin of the aquatic vegeta- 
tion of the lake, and also over and along rocky or sandy 
bars, about spring-holes, at the inlet or outlet of the 
lake, and other similar places where the black bass 
"uses." 

Necessary items in the outfit not mentioned above 

are a small tackle box and a landing net. The latter 

will save many large bass which would 

Jr , , Otherwise be lost by bungling attempts 

to get them into the boat — a six-ounce 

fly-rod is a mighty poor tool with which to "derrick" 

a four-pound bass. 

A modification of strip-casting — -or possibly fly-cast- 
ing, as it is difficult to determine which method is most 
closely approximated — exists in the use 
2^^?^^^^ of small, light fly-spoons in connection 

^. " with single-hook bass flies (these fly- 
castmg. ^ • n 1 1 

spoons are practically the same as those 

mentioned for use in strip-casting, but the smallest sizes 
should be used) on ordinary fly-casting tackle. 

In running water fly-casting for black bass Is on a 
par, both as a sport and as regards its practicality, with 
fly-fishing for brook trout. Both the small- and large- 
mouth bass rise freely to the artificial fly when it is 
properly presented and under the right conditions, the 
large-mouth having the reputation of being generally 
the most willing to inspect the feathers. But the right 
conditions for bass fly-fishing unfortunately do not 
prevail In many parts of the country, running water of 
the proper depth for fly-casting and wading wherein 
bass, either large- or small-mouthed, exist In sufficient 



FINE AND FAR-OFF FISHING 143 

numbers to warrant good sport with the fly-rod Is very 
difficult to find except in certain favored localities. 

Usually the bass streams are deep and sluggish, ne- 
cessitating the boat and the casting rod, or else, if the 
streams are rapid and shallow, the brook trout is the 
principal game fish found therein. Fly-fishing for bass 
in lakes also — well authenticated exceptions duly noted 
and filed for future and practical reference — is noto- 
riously unremunerative. 

However, by using the customary outfit for fly-cast- 
ing, casting in very much the same way and using a 
small, feather-weight fly-spoon, the angler can have 
fairly good sport with the fly-rod and the black bass un- 
der any normal angling conditions. You must, however, 
be a pretty good fly-caster — know how to use your left 
hand as well as your right in casting the fly or fly-spin- 
ner and how to "shoot" your line at the finish of the 
forward cast — and you must also use a fly-spoon that 
is suited to the business in hand. 

There is one manufacturer who makes a specialty of 
this sort of tackle, and, as is often the case, the product 
of this specialist is measurably In advance of the "just 
as good" offered by other makers of tackle In general. 
Since there is little or no trade competition in regard 
to these fly-spoons and the author therefore is not liable 
to be accused of odious comparison or entire lack of 
intelligence about fishing tackle, it might be well to say 
for the accurate information of the reader that the fly- 
spinners mentioned are known as the Hlldebrandts. 

It Is necessary that the spoon blades be very light and 
thin ; that heavy swivels, or for that matter any swivels 
at all, be avoided ; and that the bass flies used with the 



144 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

spinners be well tied and true to pattern and dressed 
on the best grade of hooks. Any fly-spoon which 
answers the above requirements will do, others will not. 

The fly-spoons made in tandem style, that is, with 
two small spoon blades leading the fly, may be especi- 
ally recommended both for strip-casting proper and 
also for use on the fly-rod for casting as with the fly. 
As above suggested only the lightest and smallest spin- 
ners should be used for casting as In fly-fishing. When 
ready for the back cast, in this last style of casting, do 
not snap the spinner out of the water, but lift it out 
easily. The former method is apt to result disastrously 
in several ways. Single-hook bucktall spinners and also 
a similar fly-spinner known as the fox squirrel tail are 
very successful lures for strip-casting and small spoon 
casting with the fly-rod. 

Any of the lighter weight surface baits such as are 
used in bait-casting are also good for strip-casting. It 
would appear that under certain conditions the black 
bass favors a floating bait; quite often they will rise to 
the surface and strike a floating lure when under-water 
fishing is barren of results. The floating baits are also 
the most practical and saving of tackle, fish, and temper 
when fishing very weedy lakes, casting among the lily 
pads and rushes, and In all places where under-water 
fishing is liable to result in fouling the tackle either in 
casting or after a bass is hooked. As a general rule, 
a bass which strikes a floating bait will fight close to 
the surface, seldom going down to any considerable 
depth, and the wise angler, either bait- or strip-caster, 
fishing where the bottom Is badly obstructed will do 
well to remember this. 



CHAPTER VIII 

PROSPECTING WITH A CASTING ROD 

On the Trail of the Black Bass 

IT is a fact well known to students of human nature 
and angling, that a fisherman will often turn his 
back on good fishing near at hand for the sake of 
trying his luck on little, inconsequential ponds and 
rivers which no one ever heard of particularly but are 
darkly rumored to *'swarm" with huge bass. Sometimes 
you do, indeed, catch a few bass; oftener you do not. 
Always you put in many hours of hard work tramping 
the woods, swinging a paddle or pulling the oars, and 
at the end of the trip invariably "Never Again" is your 
slogan. 

Some little time thereafter, running over in your 
mind the various events of your latest prospecting fiasco, 
you realize that, after all, you have had a mighty good 
time; that it is not all of bass fishing to kill bass; and 
that on these little prospecting tours you experience to 
the fullest extent all of the things which make fishing 
really worth while — although you do not catch even 
one small bass. 

145 



146 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

The call of strange waters, little ponds "way off" in 
the woods, the upper reaches of rivers as yet unexploited 
by anglers, is practically irresistible. For a time, when 
camping out, the fishing is within easy reach from the 
camp. Then, no matter how fine may be the sport at 
the home-camp, a side trip on the chance of connecting 
with an imaginary record fish, or finding some purely 
hypothetical lake is always In order. The rightly 
constructed angler Is an indefatigable explorer, although 
at least half the time and from the strictly practical 
point of view the object of his explorations is some- 
what vague. It Is manifestly foolish to leave first-class 
fishing for the merely supposititious sport afforded by 
some little known and possibly non-existent lake or 
river, but we all do It. 

Just why a man will tear his way through the woods 
for days in order to reach a place where ''the hand of 
man has never set foot," which, after all, is quite like 
any other place, is difficult to comprehend. And the 
mental status of the angler who pulls, pushes, and pad- 
dles a canoe and half a ton of excess baggage and fishing 
tackle up a river for the express purpose of wetting his 
line "farther up" than anyone else has ever been crazy 
enough to fish Is, to say the least, unstable if not dan- 
gerous. Of course the reason is usually the suppositi- 
tious larger fish and better fish In the presumably un- 
fished waters. But the world Is already pretty small 
and annually growing smaller, and every angler knows, 
or has reason to know that at the present stage of the 
game all the best fishing waters are neither lost, strayed, 
or stolen ; their locations are definitely known and duly 



PROSPECTING -147 

recorded in the railroad guide-books. This is from the 
common-sense point of view — which, of course, should 
be entirely disregarded as it has no bearing on the 
matter. 

Just so long, however, as the old saw that it is not 
all of fishing to catch fish holds true, anglers will 
continue to chase the will o' the wisp of better fishing, 
or bigger fish, "farther up" or "farther in," anywhere, 
in fact, except where you are, always provided the place 
is sufficiently inaccessible. Inaccessibility of location 
makes a sporting proposition of any little old mud- 
bottomed pond that has nothing in it but bull-frogs, 
bull-heads, and possibly three or four slab-sided pick- 
erel. Any duly accredited angler will risk his neck to 
fish such a place as this; and when, naturally, the trip 
turns out a brilliant failure, although he may protest 
strenuously against his "luck," way down in his heart 
he knows that he has got exactly what he went for 
— whatever that may be — and that, really, he Is quite 
ready to do it all over again. 

Fishing New Waters 

Prospecting for black bass has, however, its practical 
side. To fish new waters successfully one should be 
pretty well acquainted with the habits of the bass in 
order to judge rightly as to their probable haunts and 
habits under the local conditions; and although certain 
phases of this subject have been discussed elsewhere, a 
review of the matters of this sort most pertinent from 
the present view-point, together with other facts knowl- 
edge of which will help the angler when prospecting 



148 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

new waters, will serve to emphasize their importance. 
Whenever possible it is well to call in the aid of some 
of the local talent, professional or otherwise, with a 
view to locating the game without loss of time. The 
black bass is a peculiar and undependable animal; even 
in ponds closely adjacent the habits and, to a slight 
extent, the color and formation of the bass respectively 
therein will differ. Particularly is there liable to be 
a difference in the kind of bait most favored. In one 
pond nothing but the natural baits, minnows, frogs, etc., 
will produce results; in another natural baits are of no 
use whatever while the various artificials — or, more 
frequently, one particular artificial — are at a premium. 

Quite naturally the habits of the bass in any given 
lake are to a great extent dependent upon the character 
of the lake itself; that is, if bass habits are dependent 
upon anything but the own sweet will of Mr. Bass in 
person, to which latter theory the writer is sometimes 
strongly inclined. Thus in shallow, weedy lakes the 
bass will be found feeding at quite different times from 
those in deep, clear water ponds with rocky bottoms; 
and, of course, as regards waters having these character- 
istics, it is probable that in the shallower, weedy water 
you will find the large-mouthed bass, and in the deeper 
and rocky bottomed lake the small-mouth. 

Also, from season to season, in the same lake, you are 
likely to find the old feeding grounds deserted and 
catch pretty nearly all your bass in new places, these 
new places being productive all through the season, while 
other spots, to all appearances quite as good, will yield 
nothing. All through the season, every day, you will 



PROSPECTING 149 

take a bass or two off a certain patch of weeds or 
rushes, another at the point of an old tree fallen in the 
water, and in a number of other places which become 
well known to j^ou. Eventually you "go the rounds" 
visiting these spots in rotation and seldom fishing the 
rest of the lake. But, in all probability, the next season 
you will have to start out prospecting again, to learn 
anew where the bass are living. 

In view of these things it should be manifest that the 
angler when visiting new waters in search of bass is 
playing against heavy odds, particularly if his time is 
limited and the lake is a large one. Some time ago the 
writer and a friend — to say nothing of two excessively 
heavy pack baskets, two phenomenally weighty rifles, 
and two ridiculously ponderous oars — packed through 
the woods to a lake "swarming with large, gamey black 
bass." Arriving at the lake a little after noon we found 
the boat we had expected to use swamped in six feet 
of water and impossible to raise — the moral is obvious. 
So we prospected for a craft and found one, a fine little 
boat that leaked not a drop and floated like a duck and, 
wonder of wonders, was not locked. Later we learned 
that this was the only other boat on the lake. This 
craft we promptly requisitioned — and the morality of 
this is not so obvious. 

While eating our lunch we visually prospected the 
lake, looking for the best fishing water; apparently it 
was all about equally good and very good. All around 
the lake shore were fine patches of weeds, lily pads, and 
rushes ; here and there large boulders showed above the 
surface, indicating fine rocky bars ; and many large pine 



I50 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

trees had tipped over into the water affording ideal bass 
shelters. We knew that our time was limited and that 
much depended upon how and where we decided to 
fish. However, it all looked so favorable that we de- 
cided that if we fished around the south shore we would 
have all the bass we could carry on the long tramp 
home. 

So, until dewy eve, we fished around the south shore 
— ^without even a strike. A few days thereafter we 
learned that on the next day two anglers fished the 
north shore, using bait-casting tackle quite similar to 
our own, and had the finest kind of luck. This shows 
the seamy side of bass prospecting. 

If it is impracticable to summon the aid of a local 
angler or guide and time is no object, as when, for 
instance, you are going into camp on the lake, it is a 
very good plan to do your first fishing by prospecting 
with a trolling line. Trolling from the rod is always 
an effective method for taking bass and in this way, 
working slowly around the shores on the lookout for 
bars and other bass habitats, j^ou soon learn the lay of 
the water. The places w^here you have a strike or 
catch a bass should be carefully noted by reference to 
some landmark on the lake shore. Then when you get 
out the casting tackle and are ready for the real busi- 
ness of the trip, you will know pretty nearly where to 
fish. 

The most propitious places for bass vary considerably 
with the time of year and even with the time of day. 
Thus the wise prospector early in the season will look 
for the fish well in-shore among the weeds and rushes 



PROSPECTING 151 

and on the edges of rocky or sandy bars; in streams on 
the riffles and generally in the more shallow water. 
Fishing off bars, or on them, is almost always successful 
and the angler should take pains to spot every bar in 
the stream or lake. 

As the season progresses and the bass seeking cooler 
waters move out into the deeper portions of the lake 
the angler must follow them. Casting over the bars 
and shallows at this time is only successful very early 
and late in the day when the bass are feeding in-shore. 
The dissimilarity of taste in the matter of natural and 
artificial baits shown by bass in even closely adjacent 
lakes, alluded to above, should be borne in mind by the 
angler fishing new waters. 

The present tendency of bass fishermen, especially 
bait-casters, is strongly toward the almost exclusive use 
of artificial baits; from the standpoint of the practical 
angler, who uses bait natural or artificial as the circum- 
stances seem to warrant, the exclusive use of spoons, 
artificial minnows, and surface baits, to the absolute 
exclusion of natural bait in any form, is not desirable. 
When fair success may be had with the artificial baits — 
even although at the same time heavier results could be 
had with natural bait — the use of the artificials is 
cleaner, simpler, and preferable. But fanatical adher- 
ence to the artificial baits, for any reason whatever, 
when the natural is evidently and exclusively preferred 
by the bass is difficult to justify. 

The prospector for bass, then, should not bring in an 
adverse decision in regard to any certain pond or lake 
until a variety of baits have been tried and the bass 



152 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

found wanting, and even then It is quite possible that 
they wanted something else. The angler who favors 
the small-mouth bass, discrediting the merit of the large- 
mouth, should prospect only in certain places, while 
the angler who is satisfied with any sort of bass has a 
much larger field to cover. 

It is not merely a bookish theory that the small-mouth 
in streams favors swiftly running water — much the 
same localities as are sought by the brook trout — while 
the large-mouth seeks quiet, weedy places. This has 
been proved to the writer many times and some times 
very strikingly. On the Housatonic in Connecticut, as 
an instance, where the dam of an electric power plant 
affords swift-water fishing below and still-water above, 
you will take exclusively small-mouth bass below the 
dam and large-mouths above it. 

In lakes also the habitats of the two black basses are 
almost equally well defined, the small-mouths being 
found about the spring-holes, on rocky bars, and pos- 
sibly at the inlet or outlet of the lake if there is an 
appreciable current at these places, or where, as at the 
mouth of a mountain brook, the water is of a lower tem- 
perature. Often the two basses co-exist in the same 
lake when the large-mouth is usually found in quiet, 
weedy bays, among lily pads and rushes, and where the 
bottom is soft. 

As a method of quickly trying out new waters bait- 
casting is quite equal to trolling provided the caster 
does not spend too long a time in whipping out any one 
spot. As a matter of fact repeated casting over a re- 
stricted piece of water is seldom of use anyway; almost 



PROSPECTING 153 

invariably if there is a bass in the immediate vicinity of 
the cast and he is in a rising mood, he will strike at 
the first or second cast; if he does not, subsequent casts 
in the same place will seldom persuade him. With one 
man at the oars or paddle and another to handle the 
casting rod, working around the lake shore slowly and 
without stopping to whip out any one place to a finish, 
it is possible to prospect new fishing grounds very 
quickly and effectively. 

When casting from a boat or canoe a great deal 
depends upon the man at the oars or paddle. It is an 
open question who deserves the most credit for the suc- 
cessful landing of a big, hard-fighting game fish, the 
man behind the rod or the one who, by his skilful 
handling of the fishing craft, aids the rod at every stage 
of the game. The canoemen of the North aid the 
angler in his pursuit of salmon and square-tails. In the 
North and West the man behind the paddle or the oars 
is more than a small factor in the landing of masca- 
longe. Wherever there are bass, there, too, are the 
fin- and weather-wise boatmen, upon whose knowledge 
of feeding grounds and boat handling the sportsman 
tourist must largely depend. 

At present the rowboat is in most general use for 
fishing purposes, but the canvas-covered canoe is con- 
stantly gaining in popularity, especially for stream fish- 
ing. There is also a general tendency in most all locali- 
ties toward better boats. Some years ago it was the 
exception to find, save among privately owned boats, 
anything much better than a **pung," a blunt-nosed, 
leaky monstrosity with a chronic objection to direct 



154 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

progress either forward or backward. The introduc- 
tion of the inexpensive, well built, and very serviceable 
steel boats has bettered the situation a great deal. For 
any fishing that is worth while, it is impossible to get a 
boat that is too good; that is, as regards lines and ease 
of handling. 



CHAPTER IX 

CASTS AT RANDOM WITH UNEXPECTED 
RISES 

The Wideawake Angler 

WHEN fishing a trout stream the man who 
keeps his mind on the business in hand is far 
more successful than the "contemplative" 
angler. Contemplation — we know that this, in view of 
the very familiar traditions of the gentle art, is almost 
sacrilegious — and real fly-fishing are strictly incom- 
patible. Fishing in books, however, that is, in some 
books, and fishing in rivers and lakes are two quite dif- 
ferent propositions. For successful fly-fishing the an- 
gler must be "right on his muscle" every minute. If he 
allows his attention to wander to the proverbial "beau- 
ties of nature" or indulges in "day dreams" in accord- 
ance with the tenets of the less practical literature of 
angling, a light creel is the logical result. The aver- 
age sportsman, although not insensitive to the natural 
beauties of the stream, quite naturally prefers to make 
a good catch — not necessarily an excessive one. 

Striking a trout that has risen to the fly is a matter 

155 



156 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

of quick eye, steady nerve, and constant watchfulness. 
Every fly-caster can recall days when, although the 
trout were rising freely, his catch was very light. It 
was not because the trout were rising short. It was 
merely because he was a bit off in his striking, a little 
too quick or too slow. He was not "on his nerve." In 
target shooting with the rifle the same conditions pre- 
vail. There are days when the expert marksman is 
unable to let-of¥ at the right time. To repay one for 
such unhallowed occasions there are days when every 
rise is fastened with certainty. 

When the cast of flies is on the water they must be 
closely watched in order to take immediate advantage 
of a rise, but when the angler is not engaged in actual 
casting he should watch for a rising trout or likely look- 
ing places for a cast. A fly cast over a trout that has 
just risen is pretty sure to bring results. Although you 
may have fished a certain stream many times, j^ou are 
almost certain to find new places that are promising — 
if you look for them. Every year a trout stream 
changes, in accordance with the force of the spring 
freshets. On your first day out you may find old-time 
favorite pools filled in and practically ruined and you 
will find that here and there new pools have formed. 
Rapids have been shallowed to riffles and riffles deep- 
ened to rapids. Overhanging trees have finally toppled 
oyer into the stream. New lurking places for trout 
have been hollowed out beneath the banks. Every year 
you must learn the stream over again. 

In almost every trout stream there are certain reaches 
which are practically barren of trout. The careful 



CASTS AT RANDOM 157 

angler, however, during the first days of the season, will 
try out such places very thoroughly, for It Is quite pos- 
sible that the annual change In stream conditions may 
result In trout being found there. I remember very 
well such an occurrence. A trout stream that I have 
fished a great many times was always troutless In Its 
lower waters, despite the fact that here the stream, as 
far as one could judge, was exactly suited to the fish. 
There were several short rapids leading Into fine pools, 
many large, submerged boulders just right for trout to 
hide around and beneath, and the banks were thickly 
grown to pines. Yet for several seasons I fished this 
water from time to time without even a rise. The 
trout were not there. But the following season the 
first day over this same water put a dozen good trout 
in the basket, and to date the fishing there Is fairly 
reliable. Something had occurred to bring in the 
trout; just what, it would be difficult to determine. 

The wideawake angler, admitting for the purpose of 
contrast that the contemplative angler exists outside 
the pages of angling literature, a matter of some doubt, 
may not become an authority on the beauties of Nature 
In the abstract, but he learns a good bit about certain 
special phases of nature — fish, for instance. Some one 
has said that the best time to observe nature Is when the 
fish aren't biting. This is undoubtedly true, but it is 
also an admission of inability to make the fish bite. 
That this is a pretty difficult thing, at times Impossible, 
may be true, but, nevertheless, your hardworking, 
wideawake angler works hardest and is most wideawake 
When it Is a case of making the trout rise or an empty 



158 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

creel. And herein is one of the most interesting phases 
of fishing. A good trout taken under difficulties, teased 
to the fly when most disdainful of it, is worth a dozen 
fool fish crazy for the fly to such an extent that one 
has only to offer the cast to have it accepted. Only the 
enthusiast, however, the true-blue, strenuous fly-caster, 
will long continue to hammer away at water to all 
intents and purposes trout-void. 

A constitutional inability to quit, when every trout 
added to the score must be a trout earned by the hard- 
est kind of work and the exercise of infinite patience 
and skill, is the hall-mark of the genuine fly-fisherman. 
To such a man continued ill success serves merely as 
an incentive to further effort. He seeks to discover 
just what are the conditions which are causing the trout 
to stay down. Arriving at some conclusion regarding 
this, he endeavors to meet the situation in the selection, 
arrangement, or use of his tackle. If the results show 
that his theory is wrong it is simply a case of trying 
another method. And a good many times he eventually 
hits upon the proper thing and then — . 

On the other hand we all know the "quitter." He is 
anxious to be known among men as an ''ardent angler," 
an "enthusiast." He talks fish and fishing to infinity 
and upon microscopic provocation. But on the stream 
a little hard luck quickly shows his class. His conver- 
sation waxes loud and rather more than impolitely em- 
phatic. He talks about smashing the rod — "might just 
as well fish in a frog pond" — and thrashes about in the 
stream like a pointer dog in a mud-wallow. Finally he 
quits entirely — ^whereupon there is much joy among his 




o 



CASTS AT RANDOM 159 

companions. It is quite true that there are times and 
places when and where no amount of careful work will 
bring even slightly adequate returns and continued 
effort is futile. It is also true that the man who keeps 
his powder dry and his line wet generally has some- 
thing to show for his pains. 

Game Fish in Winter 

The advantage to the hunter and angler of a good 
working knowledge of the habits and haunts of game 
and game fishes is generally conceded. The man who 
knows the life histories of the deer and grouse, the 
brook trout and the black bass, has little need of a 
guide, save in so far as a geographical knowledge of 
the country to be fished or hunted may be necessary, to 
show him where to look for trout or where not to look 
for grouse. 

Given two hunters or anglers equally well outfitted 
in the matter of guns and tackle and equally good shots 
and casters, and the one who has taken pains in his 
tramps afield and along the streams to note carefully 
such habits of the quarry as may have a bearing on his 
sport will always make the better showing. There are, 
of course, artificially planted and preserved coverts and 
streams where the abundance and innocence of the game 
will make up for lack of skill with gun, rifle, or fly- 
rod ; in such cases knowledge of how and where to look 
for game and fish is not an imperative factor for success. 

Where game and game fish exist in this superabun- 
dance, getting them is purely a matter of being a good 
shot or casting a straight line; even the poor shot and 



i6o THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

the awkward rod handler may obtain enough birds or 
trout to salve the wounds to his pride caused by re- 
peated misses with the gun or the usual misfortunes of 
the novice or the confirmed bungler with the fly-rod. 

There is a certain fish and game preserve controlled 
by a number of amiable but quite unathletic gentlemen 
''from the City." Each year, just before the opening of 
the trout season, the superintendent of this preserve 
dumps into the stream which runs through it several 
hundred liver-fed, two-pound trout. A few days there- 
after the amiable but quite unathletic gentlemen "from 
the City" come up and "catch 'em" — on worms. That 
is one sort of sport. 

On the other hand, there is another trout stream not 
far distant, a hard-fished public stream, from which I 
am willing to wager that the not too strenuous gentle- 
men aforesaid could not take a half-dozen trout in a 
day's fishing — with worms or in any other way. Yet 
a friend of mine can usually show you fifteen or twenty 
good trout taken from this stream on flies almost any 
day. That is another sort of sport. 

This is not saying that the amiable metropolitans are 
entirely lacking in the right spirit; the mere fact that 
they show a certain appreciation of what we mean when 
we say "trout fishing" is evidence of existence of the 
right idea. It is merely saying that sport of the right 
sort is a matter of skill plus experience and observation. 

But knowledge of the open season habits of fish and 
game, while all that the sportsman absolutely must 
know, may well be supplemented with some familiarity 
with the life of game when the season is closed. The 



CASTS AT RANDOM i6i 

appeal of the wilderness and woodland In winter has 
been repeatedly described and maj^ here be taken for 
granted ; also, that the exercise of a long tramp along 
country roads, ice-bound streams, and through white 
forest lands is no bad thing should go without saying. 

Winter observation of the habits of fish is a pretty 
difficult matter; as, indeed, is actual observation of 
stream life at any time. The things we know about 
trout and bass and other game fishes have been in great 
part gathered from observation of specimens in con- 
finement in hatcheries and aquariums. By this is meant 
knowledge of the life of fishes apart from certain 
phases well known to any experienced angler. The 
trout stream in winter, banked with snow and, save in 
the rifts where the current is very broken and rapid, 
sealed with ice, offers little hint as to the life of its in- 
habitants. 

That the trout brook of January after a fall of snow 
and In the sunshine Is nearly, if not quite, as good to 
look at as the trout brook of June, Is small consolation 
to the man who wants to know about trout. And yet 
it would appear that the sportsman who follows down 
his favorite stream when that stream Is nothing more 
than so much snow and ice learns something about 
trout ; just what. It would be difficult to put Into words, 
but the fact remains that the angler who has an all-the- 
year-round acquaintance with his stream has a certain 
advantage over the man whose stream experience is 
limited to the spring and summer months. 

The brook trout of the winter time Is a very dififerent 
fish from the brook trout of June. He Is Inactive, 



i62 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

sluggish, and a bottom feeder. He does not go into 
retirement to such an extent as does the bass, but, never- 
theless, is far from active. The brook trout feed more 
or less, rather less than more, during the winter, and 
sometimes ice fishermen, trap-fishing for pickerel and 
perch on lakes inhabited by the speckled trout, catch 
them through the ice. 

In the Berkshires there Is a small lake known as 
Three Mile. Three Mile brook is the outlet of the 
little lake and has brook trout. Naturally there are 
trout in the lake. Some time ago some winter anglers 
iishing through the ice with the ordinary ''types" or 
pickerel traps used for the purpose took fourteen brook 
trout averaging a pound. The story does not tell 
whether they put them back or not, but that they 
caught the trout I know to be a fact. I might add that 
one of the best known and most skilful fly-casters in 
Massachusetts has repeatedly fished Three Mile Pond 
for brook trout during the open season, with flies and 
everything else except dynamite, but without success — • 
not a single trout. This is a fine situation to theorize 
about, if you are given to theories. 

Opening day trout fishermen have the best luck bot- 
tom-fishing with bait, and they will tell you that the 
trout of April first or fifteenth, as the case may be, 
although they take bait very freely, are extremely slug- 
gish when hooked and when landed are found gener- 
ally to be In poor condition. It would seem, then, that 
the brook trout Is a light feeder in winter rather from 
lack of opportunity than from inclination, for the con- 
ditions prevailing early in April are usually distinctly 
wintry. 



CASTS AT RANDOM 163 

I have taken brook trout on bait standing in snow up 
to my knees; also in the worst of a heavy snowstorm. 
Under the same conditions trout have been taken on 
flies. Brook trout in October or November are found 
at the headwaters of streams and up the small tributary 
brooks where they resort during the spawning season. 
After the spawning season and during the winter 
months there must be a general drifting back to the 
main stream, and in the main stream a movement down- 
stream to the usually deeper waters below. 

The brook trout migrations mentioned by the natu- 
ralists, that is, a general movement up-stream prior to the 
spawning season, followed by a retreat to lower waters 
thereafter, are, however, not to be taken too literally; 
it should not be understood that at any time either the 
upper or lower reaches of the stream are entirely trout 
deserted. As in the summer, trout may be found about 
the spring-holes, so also in winter they are found there. 
In the summer they seek the vicinity of the spring-holes 
because there the water is cooler, but in winter because, 
rather curiously, it is then the warmer. Spring water is 
slow to freeze. The usual winter habitat of the brook 
trout is in the deeper holes and long, deep reaches of 
still-water. 

Formerly there was considerable controversy about 
the so-called hibernating of the black bass during the 
winter months, but it is now definitely known that, 
when the streams and lakes are frozen, the bass do, 
indeed, hibernate in much the same manner as certain 
fur-bearers. Hibernation, however, does not imply 
complete cessation of the forces of life but merely a 



i64 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

dormant state which, under certain circumstances, may 
be temporarily interrupted. Thus the basses, both 
large- and small-mouthed, when the water reaches a 
low temperature, seek refuge in the interstices of rocks, 
in hollow, submerged logs, and places of like nature, 
sometimes even burrowing into the mud of the lake 
bottom, where they remain for long periods inactive and 
without feeding. 

But if several days of unseasonably warm weather 
should come, melting the ice and raising the tempera- 
ture of the water, the bass would again become active. 
Also it is fairly certain that individuals remain active 
all winter; that is, all the bass in any given lake are 
not inactive at any one time. Ice fishermen quite often 
during the winter report catching a single, sometimes 
two or three, black bass. On one occasion a friend of 
mine, fishing through the ice of a river cove, took eleven 
black bass, large-mouthed, the heaviest weighing two 
and a half pounds. This is the heaviest catch of black 
bass through the ice that has ever come to my notice. 
The winter bass seeks the deep waters of stream or lake, 
coming to the shallows when the water grows warm in 
the springtime. 

The winter habits of pike, pickerel, and perch are 
much the same as in the warmer months, although they 
are not so frequently found in shallow water. These 
fishes feed all winter and are quite active at all times. 
Ice-fishing for pickerel and perch, although hardly in 
the same class with fly-fishing for trout, is good fun 
^nd widely practiced. 



CASTS AT RANDOM 165 

Killing Time in a Fishing Camp 

If the camp Is a permanent one you will often have 
time to kill and you cannot do better than to use some 
of it in putting the fishing industry on a business-like 
basis. As a general rule camping is seldom done merely 
for the pleasure of life under canvas ; that is, the camp is 
most often subordinate to the pursuits of fishing or 
hunting or some other outdoor sport. You should not 
allow all your attention to be taken up with the com- 
monplace details of tents, outfits, cookery, and the like. 
If the fishing is to be successful there are several things 
to be looked to in this regard. 

One of the first necessities is a rod rack. Possibly 
you will go into camp with the idea that, when through 
with it, you will take the rod down. It is quite prob- 
able that for the first two or three days you will do 
this. After that it is extremely doubtful. Something 
like the following comes to pass. You come in from 
fishing and are immediately assailed with a more or less 
polite request to rustle firewood — at once. You lean 
the split-bamboo against a convenient pine tree and do 
your duty. Then other things demand your attention. 
The rod is out of sight and mind. All night It leans 
against the convenient pine tree and by the next morning 
has acquired a beautiful set and is a fit candidate for 
the rod hospital. Now If there had been a rod rack 
this would not have happened. 

If your quarters are large enough have the rack In- 
side; if not, then under the tent-fly close to the tent 
where the rods will be protected and easy to get at In 



i66 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

case of heavy rain. All you need is some crotched 
sticks. Plant them closely enough together so that the 
rod will be supported equally throughout its entire 
length. 

For the bait-casting rods a better and more conve-" 
nient arrangement, since these rods are short enough 
to allow this, is a rack on which the rods can be sus- 
pended from the tip. Such a rack can easily be con- 
structed in several diiferent ways and it hardly seems 
necessary to go into the details. It should be placed 
inside the tent and will take up very little room. Never 
by any chance allow a split-bamboo rod, or, for that 
matter, any rod, to lie for any length of time on the 
ground. It can be ruined in one night by this sort 
of treatment. By all means take the rod down if you 
can remember to; otherwise, use the rod rack. 

In packing for a near-home trip, if you are not going 
light, it is a good plan to stow some of the outfit in a 
box which can be made into a live-bait box; or make 
your bait box at home and then utilize it for packing. 
Be sure to have the cover stout enough to hold the 
weights you will use upon it. 

If you have a line dryer you will probably use it 
sometimes. A couple of cleats nailed one above the 
other to a tree or the tent pole make a competent dryer 
of which the most striking characteristic is simplicity. 
If you attempt a more complicated arrangement the 
chances are it will never be completed, unless you are 
one of those not rare individuals who may be described 
as "camp tinkers." 

If the natural conditions are favorable it is a good 



CASTS AT RANDOM 167 

plan to have a pen where the surplus fish may be kept 
ahVe — if there is a surplus — so that when, as sometimes 
happens, the fish are off their feed for some length of 
time, it will not be a case of straight bacon. 

The angler who camps beside his fishing has many 
advantages over the one-day fisherman. Not only can 
he choose the best days and the best time of day for 
fishing but he has every facility for learning the pe- 
culiarities of the fish in that particular lake, their hours 
of feeding, where to look for them, their taste in the 
matter of flies and baits, the effect upon them of various 
local conditions, and similar matters. These are things 
the knowledge of which makes for success and the 
angler in camp should not fail to observe them. 

Canoe vs. Waders 

It must be admitted at the start that the majority of 
fly-fishermen, if the stream conditions are at all favor- 
able, would choose the waders. For this choice there 
are many reasons, all good ones. The fly-caster who 
has acquired his angling education on northern trout 
streams is never quite at home when casting from boat 
or canoe ; and to the minds of many anglers wading the 
stream is a necessary accompaniment of the day's fishing 
if the occasion is to be enjoyed to the utmost. 

The man in the waders undoubtedly gets into closer 
communication with the stream and its surroundings 
than does the canoeman. From the first pool or riflUe 
he follows the stream through its various windings, 
learning as he can in no other way its peculiarities. 
Every trout stream is unique. To fish It successfully 



i68 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

it must be learned, and the man who wades, soon 
acquires a good working knowledge. 

Given a stream which may be fished by either method, 
canoe or waders, the question arises as to which method 
is the more apt to be effective. Wading a trout stream 
is quite a science in itself. Some anglers, not the ma- 
jority in America at least, favor fishing or wading up- 
stream. The reasons for this preference are many and 
logical. It is claimed that as trout customarily lie 
heading up-stream the angler casting from below is less 
liable to be seen; that the flies when so cast as to float 
down to the fish from above act more naturally than 
when worked more or less against the current ; and that 
wading up-stream removes the possibility of alarming 
the trout or, at least, causing them to be suspicious by 
any disturbance of the stream bed, the dislodgment of 
small sticks, or muddying the water, the current, of 
course, carrying the news to the trout when the angler 
is working down-stream. 

The advantages of wading down-stream in the typi- 
cally swift trout stream are, however, very apparent 
to most experienced fly-casters. In the first place It is 
far more natural and certainly much easier to wade with 
the current than against It. It is generally possible to 
cast a sufficiently long line to do away with the pos- 
sibility of being seen by the fish, and it is a question 
whether the flies if skilfully fished from above are not 
quite as attractive as when worked from below. And 
as to the matter of disturbing the stream bed the man 
who wades slowly and carefully can reduce the dis- 
turbance to a negligible quantity. 



CASTS AT RANDOM 169 

The man who wades enjoys absolute freedom from 
restraint. The canoeman is bounded by the gunwales 
of his craft. However, in the silence with which the 
canoe makes its progress there is an advantage. If 
care is taken in the matter of anchorage no possible 
warning is given to the fish. Also, if the stream is a 
large one, good places may be easily fished from the 
canoe which might be beyond the ability of the most 
expert fly-caster to reach when wading. In the case 
of over-fished waters the use of a canoe, if the stream 
has ordinarily been fished by wading, might spell the 
difference between a light creel and a heavy one. 

When fishing a stream of this sort it may be taken 
for granted that the most accessible spots have been 
fished to death, and the angler who is wise and am- 
bitious will devote himself to the more difficult places. 
The chances are that such spots have been very little 
fished, and possibly, in the case of some of them, not at 
all. In many trout streams of good size there are 
reaches of deep, swift-running water too deep to wade 
and where the banks are so brushy as to prevent casting 
from them. Such places are avoided by the average 
angler, the man who wades, and the use of a canoe in 
such waters should yield very weighty results. 

Landing Net and Gaff 

The number of game fish annually lost between the 
water and the creel through the unskilful use or the 
absence of a landing net or gaff probably approaches 
closely to the amount of the entire catch. The final 
netting or gaffing of a fish sufficiently played and ready 



I70 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

to be landed is more than a mere detail ; it requires skill, 
presence of mind, and, above all, coolness. Every 
angler can remember times when the bungling use of 
the net resulted in the loss of the "big one." Also, the 
bungler, if the fisherman did his duty on these occa- 
sions, should have no difficulty in recalling the particular 
disaster in which he figured. 

In stream fishing for brook trout, however, the angler 
is usually his own netter, and if through his haste or 
lack of skill in handling the net, the especially large 
one gets away, he has no one to blame but himself. 
Landing a trout in still-water is a matter of no great 
difficulty. The fish can be gradually played in to the 
angler, and when he is ready to be taken out the net 
should be immersed and the fish led over it. Sudden 
motions should be avoided and the fish neatly meshed 
without touching him with the rim of the net. 

Sometimes the lightest touch of the net will revive 
a played-out fish and he is off again like a flash. In 
view of this it is advisable before using the net to have 
a fair amount of slack line off the reel which should be 
held between the fingers of the rod hand so that it can 
be released immediately. Thus prepared, a final rally 
of the fish is not apt to result in his escape. Unless 
the trout was originally hooked very hard after a more 
or less protracted siege of playing, the hook often "hangs 
by a thread" in which case if the trout is snubbed in the 
least the hook will tear away, and frequently if any 
slack is given it will drop out. 

Landing a trout in fast-running water is another 
thing. Here, if the fish is a large one, the angler has 



CASTS AT RANDOM 171 

his work cut out for him. The best plan is not to 
attempt to play the fish up to you but to hold him, 
as far as can safely be ventured, where he is hooked, 
and work down to him. If you try to drag him up- 
stream it brings him to the surface where he will roll 
over and over and thrash about until nine times out of 
ten he whips himself off the hook. Once down to the 
fish so that you do not have to handle him from above, 
but from the side or below, lead him gradually into a 
gentle side current. The fish should be up-stream from 
you when you are ready to use the net. The current 
will then bring him over the net instead of taking him 
away from it. 

When fishing from a boat or canoe the net should 
have a handle at least four or five feet long. Almost 
invariably a bass that has been played in to the boat 
will take one more run w^hen he sees it, and unless he 
is absolutely played to a finish he will always fight away 
from the boat. For fish that run large, such as the 
lake trout, a gaff should be used. Gaffing a fish should 
be gone about in the same way as when using the net. 
The gaff should be immersed and the fish led over it. 
A skilful gaffer will take a fish in out of the wxt with 
one motion. 

Although some anglers advise that even when there 
are two men in the boat, it is better for the man who is 
playing the fish to do his own netting, it would seem 
that it is preferable for the angler whose rod is not busy 
to handle the net. It is much easier to lead the fish 
within landing distance of the man who occupies the 



172 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

opposite end of the boat than to lead It in where you 
can net it yourself. 

The Trolling and Casting Spoon 

With the advent of the short bait-casting rod and 
the free-running reel has come an increase of interest 
in artificial lures. Bass fishermen of an experimental 
turn of mind are kept busy trying out each new bait 
as it makes its appearance, and the collections of these 
lures which some enthusiasts have made are indeed 
fearful and wonderful to behold. The non-angling 
person if shown one of these museums, without explana- 
tory remarks, would be inclined to believe that it was 
the life work, complete to date, of an extremely Ingen- 
ious maniac. With all this interest in the new and 
sometimes fantastic lures, not that some of them do 
not catch bass, the old and very reliable "spoon hook" 
has suffered a temporary eclipse. And yet, taking every- 
thing into consideration, the spoon Is without doubt 
the best of all-round artificial bait ever Invented. Upon 
It, when skilfully and seasonably used, every important 
game fish of fresh waters may be taken. Its attractive 
motion when In action Is hardly equalled by any of the 
later inventions, and as a casting bait it may always be 
relied upon. 

The original spoon was merely a spoon-shaped blade 
with a hole at one end for attaching the line and at the 
other end a single hook was fixed. It caught fish. Since 
then the tackle dealers have put on the market manifold 
variations of the original, some of them sufficiently 
ingenious, but none of them In any way more consist- 



CASTS AT RANDOM 173 

ently successful than the standard trolling and casting 
spoon as it is now furnished. The different forms of 
these variations are entirely too many to be considered. 
One variation, however, it might be well to mention. 
Spoons are furnished in several different materials, the 
principal ones being nickel, brass, copper, silver, and 
gold. As between these forms when in use the brass, 
copper, or gold spoons are less flashy in effect. Many 
anglers affirm, with reason, that in accordance with the 
well-known rule as to the use of artificial flies, the less 
noticeable spoons are more successful in very clear, 
bright weather. 

As to whether the tuft of feathers with which the 
trebles of most spoons are furnished is advantageous, 
there is a decided difference of opinion. Their original 
excuse was probably merely as a concealment for the 
hooks. As far as this is concerned they are useless. 
Concealment is unnecessary. The question is rather as 
to whether the addition of the feathers renders the spoon 
more attractive. In this regard expert opinion seems 
to favor the feathers for bass, while as regards pickerel 
and pike it is a matter of indifference. As the feathers 
are usually tied there is a generous sprinkling of red; 
and as the black bass is known to have a strong predi- 
lection for this color it would seem that, since the use 
of the feathers is hardly a definite disadvantage, the 
wise angler should at least hesitate before following the 
advice of those who advocate the use of the bare treble 
or single hook in connection with the spoon. 

In reading the authorities it is the duty of the layman 
to believe implicitly all that he reads and, as far as 



174 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

possible, to go and do likewise — otherwise of what use 
are authorities? Sometimes, however, this is a matter 
of no little difficulty, for these gentlemen of great ex- 
perience along similar lines quite frequently arrive at 
exactly contrary conclusions. 

Here Is an example. William C. Harris held the 
opinion that the use of a spoon in connection with a 
minnow rendered the minnow much more effective. 
Dr. James A. Henshall has stated that, In his opinion, 
this use of a spoon is not only of no advantage but that 
"moreover, it savors of pot-fishing." And there you 
are. In view of this, it would seem that others are 
entitled to a very firm opinion one way or the other. 
The consensus of opinion is probably that a small spoon 
so rigged as to lead the minnow is an advantage. The 
flash of the revolving metal, easily seen at a greater 
distance than the natural sheen of the minnow, attracts 
the fish from a wider area than would the minnow 
alone, with the result that they eventually strike the 
bait. 

The Way of a Trout With a Fly 

Of all forms of angling fly-fishing Is the most intrin- 
sically interesting and the most productive of varied and 
sometimes remarkable experiences. The stream fly- 
fisherman of many seasons is perforce learned in the 
ways of the brook trout. In fair weather and foul, at 
times successfully and at other times with 111 success, 
he has cast his flies over many waters and been In at the 
death of many good fish. But, withal, the way of a 
trout with a fly is still to him much of a mystery. There 




Good Rainbow Water 



CASTS AT RANDOM 175 

are, In general, in every stream three characteristic 
localities wherein at some time the trout will rise to a 
fly; these are the riffles, rapids, and pools. In each of 
these places the rises, as a rule, will show certain fairly 
well sustained differences; that is, to take the con- 
ditional extremes, the trout of the quiet water will rise 
to the fly quite differently from his brother of the rapids. 

Dependent upon the time, early, well along, or late 
In the season, trout are found on the riffles in lesser or 
greater numbers and at night large trout resort there 
when feeding. But as a rule the trout of the shallow 
riffles are not large. They strike very quickly, fre- 
quently miss, and fastening them is a matter of quick 
eye and good judgment, to say nothing of an educated 
wrist. In the pools the conditions are reversed. Here 
the fish are apt to be weighty and their method of rising 
and taking the fly Is in dignified keeping with their size. 
The angler must adapt his course of action to the 
occasion. Also the question of what fly and how fished 
can usually be decided only by actual trial. 

In regard to the construction of the artificial fly some 
fly-fishing theorists hold that coloration is of chief Im- 
portance and others maintain that color should be sub- 
servient to form. The practical fly-fisherman Is unwill- 
ing to subscribe entirely to either theory. Minute dif- 
ferences and gradations In coloration or form do not 
appeal to the practical man as being of sufficient Im- 
portance to warrant the hair-splitting and ink-shedding 
In which their advocates indulge. And yet it must be 
admitted that almost every angler can cite from his 
own experience an occasion when some such slight 



176 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 

variation of shade or shape proved the deciding factor 
In the day's success. 

Every angler likes to fish a new, well-tied fly. There 
are times, however, and this Is worth remembering, 
when the oldest, most frayed out nondescript In the fly- 
book will succeed despite the fact that the latest spring 
fashions In artificial bugs have failed dismally. Such a 
ragged veteran as this, with a torn wing and body 
partly unravelled and trailing, seems at times to have an 
almost hypnotic influence over reluctant fish. The 
grizzly king, a very good general fly bordering on the 
fancy, is usually tied with a red tail. As an Instance 
of the occasional Importance of small differentiations In 
the artificial fly it may be said that in some localities 
this fly Is of almost no use unless the red tail is removed. 

As a rule the fly-book of the experienced angler con- 
tains flies of comparatively few patterns in regard to 
color, while as regards variation of size the range is 
wide. Every fly-caster comes In time to depend upon 
a certain few flies which have served him well, and a 
plentiful supply of these favorites dressed on hooks of 
various sizes. Is all that he asks. The coachman is the 
most generally useful trout fly and aside from it there 
is no other fly upon which two anglers are wont to 
agree. While it is true that a restricted fly list Is wholly 
competent on waters which the angler has fished many 
times and knows like a book, it is also true that In 
strange waters the angler who plays his aforetime fav- 
orites to the exclusion of reputedly successful local 
patterns Is Inviting disappointment. 



CASTS AT RANDOM 177 

^ Fishing the flj^ when all is said, is of far more im- 
portance than either the formation or coloration of the 
fly. The operation of casting maj^ to a certain extent 
or natural limit of proficiency, be learned by almost 
anyone. Fishing the fly is quite another matter and 
herein the angler shows his quality. To fish success- 
fully with the fly the angler must have ''fish sense." 



THE END 



OUTING HOW T O B O O K No. I, 



THE BOOK OF 

Camping ^ Woodcraft 

By HORACE KEPHART 

It fits the ^pocket — an encyclopedia m 4% by 7 inches. 
Copiojisly illustrated jji pages. Cloth, decorative, 
%i -SO postpaid. 

^HE BOOK OF CAMPING AND WOOD- 
CRAFT," by Horace Kephart, is author- 
itative in every detail. No more valuable 
book on life in the woods has been produced. 

It has an added charm for the old timer at 
tramping and camping— so much knowledge is here 
confined in so small a space; for the individual 
starting out on his first "open road" pilgrimage it 
is a veritable gold mine ; for the man "just going 
out for a few days" it fills the same need. And 
back of all this is the fact that the book reads like 
a novel, so charmingly is it written. 



■A-p] 



LIST OF CONTENTS. 

Outfitting. — The Sportstnan^s Clothing. — Personal 
Kits. — Tents aftd Tools. — Utensils and Food. —A 
Check List. — Packing up. — The Camp. — The Camp- 
Fir e. — Mark mans hip in the Woods. — Dressing and 
Keeping Game and Fish. — Camp 
Cookery. -Pests of the Woods. -For est 
Travel. — Keeping a Course. — Blazes. 
— Survey Lines. — A'atiiral Signs of 
Direction. — Getting Lost. — Bivouacs. 
— Finer gency Foods. — Living off the 
Country. -Edible Plants of the Wild- 
erness. — Axemanship. — Qualities 
of Wood aftd Bark.- Trophies, Buck- 
ski7t and Rawhide. — Taftning Pelts. 
— Other Animal Products. — Acci- 
dents: Their Backwoods Treatmetit. 




OUTING HOW TO BOOK N o. 2. 



Boat Sailing 

(Fair Weatker and Foul) 

By CAPTAIN A. J. KENEALY 

Pocket size 4\x8 mches. Illustrated. 
Cloth, decorative. $i.oo postpaid. 

THIS is the ninth edition of a capi- 
tal book. The large range of 
subjects treated, the concise and tho- 
rough manner in which every topic 
is handled, at once pronounce the 
author an enviable authority in his 
line. 

Includes advice and directions 07t 
practically every thi?tg comiected with 
small boats ajid sailing. Sojne of the 
chapter titles are: Choice of a Boat. —Sailing in a gale 
or squall. — Fitting out Over Hauling. — Theory and 
Practice of Sailing. — Compass and Charts, — Nautical 
Terms. — Splices, Knots and Bends. 



OUTING HOW TO B O O K No. J. 



"V 



Wilderness Homes 

A Book of tke Log Cabin 

By OLIVER KEMP 

Illustrated with half-to7ies from photograpJis of log cabins, 
and numerous sketches by the author. Decorative wood veneer 
binding. 3\'\ x 8V2 inches. $1.23 postpaid. 

THIS volume tells how the amateur can 
build a log cabin at a minimum of ex- 
pense. No detail is omitted. Numer- 
ous plans are given and valuable specific- 
ations. The chapters are as follows. 

Making Plans.— The Fireplace.— The 
Axe and the Tree.— Building the Cabin. — 

The Roof atid the Floor.— The Cabin and 
Its Environment. — Inside the Cabi7i. — 

What It iviLl Cost. — Some Huntiftg Cabifts. 
— A Few Plans — Wihhvood, Crows Nest, 
A Club House, The Block House, Idlewild, 

The Jolly Pines, The Antlers. 




Outing How 
To Books 

Have been carefully selected from 
the out-door books of the Outing 
Publishing Company. No title is add- 
ed to the list until its readers have 
demonstrated its exceptional merit as 
a practical manual. 

Consequently these books offer 
complete and reliable courses of in- 
struction in outdoor life. They sum- 
marize the experience of experts, and 
they are especially helpful in the 
selection and purchase of equipment 
and supplies. 

Wherever possible they have been 
made pocket size for easy transport- 
ation. Every copy is printed on high 
grade bookpaper, artistically illustra- 
ted and bound attractively. They 
serve equally well in the open, in the 
library and as gifts. 



OUTING HOW TO BOOK No. 4. 



Tracks ^ Tracking 

By JOSEF BRUNNER 

Pocket size 5xy\ in. Completely illustrated. Cloth. $1.25 postpaid 






ii 



a 



AFTER twenty years of patient study 
and practical experience, Mr.Brun- 



ner can, from his intimate know- 
ledge, speak with authority on this subject. 
"Tracks and Tracking" shows how to 
follow intelligently even the most intricate 
If^a' animal or bird tracks. It teaches how to 

"r interpret tracks of wild game and decipher 

the many tell-tale signs of the chase that 
would otherwise pass unnoticed. It proves 
how it is possible to tell from the foot- 
prints the name, sex, speed, direction, 
RRONNtR whether and how wounded, and many 

^ other things about wild animals and birds. 
All material has been gathered first hand; 
the drawings and half-tones from photographs form an important 
part of the work, as the author has made faithful pictures of the 
tracks and signs of the game followed. The list is: 

The White-Tailed or Vi^'^inia Deer. — The Fan-Tailed 
Deer.— The Mule-Deer.— The Wapiti or Elk.— The Moose.— The 
Mountain Sheep.— The Antelope.— The Bear.— The Cougar.— 
The Lynx.— The Domestic Cat — The Wolf.— The Coyote.- The 
Fox. — The Jack Rabit.— The Varying Hare.— The Cottontail 
Rabbit.- The Squirrel.— The Marten and the Black-Footed Fer- 
ret.— The Otter.— The Mink.— The Ermine.— The Beaver.— The 
Badger.— The Porcupine. — The Skunk. — Feathered Game. — 
upland Birds .— Waterfowls .—Predatory Birds. 

This book is invaluable to the novice as well as the experi- 
enced hunter. 



OUTING HOW TO BOOK No. S- 



FISHING KITS 
« EQUIPMENT 

/ly SAMUEL C. CAMP 



Fishing Kits y Equipment 

by SAfMUEL G. CAMP ________ 

Pocket size — 4\ x yi inches. Ilhistrated. 
Cloth. $1.00 postpaid. 

A complete guide to the angler buying 
a new outfit. Every detail of fish- 
ing kit of the freshwater angler is 
described, from rod-tip to creel and cloth- 
ing. Special emphasis is laid on outfitt- 
ing for fly fishing, but full instruction is 
is also given to the man who wants to 
catch pickerel, pike, muskellunge, lake- 
trout, bass and other fresh-water game 
fishes. Prices are ciuoted for all articles 
recommended and the approved method 
of selecting and testing the various rods, 
lines, leaders, etc., is described. 



H^28r84 



^-^B^i 



•^.,^^ /&3i< 




1 






O M 



^-./ 
.^'\ 














'^^^^' 

















"^bv* 




■*^o« 



Ho^ 







•^o V* : 











A^i^ 






















HECKMAN 

BINDERY INC. 



^^ NOV 84 

^fey N. MANCHESTER, 
^=^ INDIANA 46962 






